


Take a Sad Song and Make it Better

by evil_giraffe



Series: Hey Jude [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: 10x22, 1x23, 1x24, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Getting Together, M/M, Season/Series 02, Season/Series 03, Season/Series 04, Season/Series 05, Season/Series 06, Season/Series 07, Season/Series 08, Season/Series 09, Season/Series 10, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:09:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 54,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25067443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evil_giraffe/pseuds/evil_giraffe
Summary: Danny dies during 10x22 but ends up back in 2011 with a chance to do things differently.
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Series: Hey Jude [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036800
Comments: 385
Kudos: 650





	1. Chapter 1

Following his ordeal at the hands of Daiyu Mei and her goons, Danny is extremely disturbed to find himself standing in the corner of an operating room in King’s Medical Center, looking down at himself on the operating table. He’s been critically injured plenty of times in the past, but has never had an out of body experience before. He can’t imagine it’s a very good sign, which seems to be confirmed by the grim expressions on the faces of the doctors as they frantically work on him. Clearly something has gone seriously wrong.

Danny begins to panic. He doesn’t want to die; he has so much to live for. He wants to see Grace graduate from college and to watch Charlie grow up. Most of all, he wants to finally tell Steve that he’s in love with him. Oh god, Steve… the man is already a mental and emotional wreck. If Danny dies under these circumstances… Steve will definitely blame himself and then who knows what will become of the beautiful idiot. Danny strongly believes that Steve is in love with him too but has also been too afraid to admit it.

“No, no, no,” Danny mutters, as the doctors stop what they’re doing and call out a time of death. The room fades from view as he’s completely surrounded by a warm white light. “Please, God, _no_ , not like this,” he begs.

After a brief silence, a disembodied voice of indeterminate gender speaks. _“Daniel Williams, you have been granted a second chance. You may use your knowledge of this timeline to try to save or improve the lives of others as well as your own, but you must not use it for financial gain. You also must not tell anyone that you have lived another life, or attempt to make any record of events that have not yet come to pass. Failure to abide by these rules will result in the untimely death of someone you love. Keep in mind that the more changes you make, the less accurate your original memories will become. Good luck.”_

Danny is still trying to process this bizarre turn of events as the light fades and he finds himself in a room at an entirely different hospital, feeling absolutely dreadful but not suffering from a bullet wound. A doctor appears and starts explaining that he was exposed to sarin and is lucky to be alive. Holy shit, that makes it May 2011. Danny tries to remain calm and answer the doctor’s questions while surreptitiously pinching himself. This certainly feels real but surely it can’t be?

A few minutes later, Grace walks into the room and Danny almost loses it. She’s so tiny and adorable. As he hugs his daughter, he starts to believe for the first time that this is actually happening. He has a second chance to watch Grace grow up, and a chance to be in Charlie’s life from the beginning this time. That thought alone threatens to completely overwhelm him.

Then, while automatically praising Grace for the picture she has drawn for him, he looks up at Steve for the first time. Jesus, he looks impossibly young. Clearly Steve is relieved and happy to see that Danny is okay, but it’s not the same level of concern and affection that Danny is accustomed to seeing. He suddenly realizes that he’s going to have to tread very carefully and try to keep his wits about him. Steve is a paranoid bastard, so if Danny lets slip anything that he shouldn’t yet know about his partner, the consequences could be dire.

Somehow, Danny manages to make it through the conversation in almost exactly the same way as the first time, before Steve leaves with a promise to return later to pick up Grace. Then Rachel calls Grace’s phone, and while Danny is angry all over again that Stan bought it without bothering to consult him, talking to Rachel is the larger concern.

She doesn’t give herself away over the phone, but Danny is of course aware that she will immediately return to Oahu and show up at the hospital later in the day. Danny’s intention is to break off their affair when that happens. Although the thought of giving both kids a ‘normal’ family with their parents together still sounds great in theory, Danny is painfully aware that things will never work out between him and Rachel in the long run, so it will be better for everyone to end it now. Besides, knowing the crap that she pulled with Charlie the first time around, it would be too difficult now to act as foolishly in love with her as he originally was at this point.

But while he waits for Rachel, Danny figures that it’s important that he try to avoid altering absolutely everything, so he still calls Kamekona and asks him to come to the hospital. When he shows up with his offering of fried chicken, Danny asks him to try to help find Sang Min.

When Rachel arrives, Danny’s resolve is momentarily shaken by her loving behavior towards him, but in the end, after asking Grace to wait out in the hall, he goes ahead with his plan to break things off. Rachel cries and begs but eventually accepts Danny’s logic that it would be madness to think that the same problems that came between them the first time wouldn’t happen again, given that his career has not changed. As she leaves the hospital, Danny wonders whether Rachel will still tell him about the pregnancy at the same time, in a last ditch effort to get him back, or if she will keep it to herself for a while and immediately try to pass Charlie off as Stan’s instead. It doesn’t really matter. Whenever she gets around to informing him, Danny will be sticking to his plan to end their romantic involvement and demand a paternity test.

He’s going to have to give careful consideration to any other changes he wants to make. Taking Wo Fat out of the picture a lot earlier is a priority, but right now he doesn’t have the energy to come up with a plan for that.

But by the time Steve shows up later in the day, Danny has made a few other decisions. He tells his partner that his brush with death has put things in perspective, and that he’s ready to start viewing Hawaii as his home rather than a temporary situation. He asks if he can stay with Steve for a few months so he can save up enough to afford the deposit on a decent place. Steve happily agrees.

If Danny can manage it, he might never move out, although he’s definitely going to have to take care to not push too far too soon. At the very least, if they’re spending more time together, he can start sharing things with Steve much sooner than he did the first time around, in the hopes that Steve might reciprocate, thereby legitimizing some of the knowledge that Danny already has about him.

To kick off the process of increased openness, Danny informs Steve about his affair with Rachel and his ‘recent’ realization that she’s never going to be what Danny needs. He goes on to explain what he’s actually looking for in a romantic partner, but he’s pretty sure that the fact that all the attributes he’s just listed are basically a description of Steve himself has just flown straight over the idiot’s head. But that’s okay. Danny has patience and determination and if he can end up with Steve any earlier than nine years from now, he's going to consider it a victory.


	2. Chapter 2

Unlike the first time, Danny calls in sick when he’s released from the hospital the next day. Although Jenna Kaye saved his life by identifying the sarin, given what he knows about her willingness to betray them all and sacrifice Steve, he’s not ready to return to the office and face her yet. He also has other priorities, namely going to Toast to ask for his help obtaining an untraceable phone with a voice scrambler, so Danny can call in anonymous tips as and when they occur to him. Toast seems a bit bemused by the enthusiastic hug that Danny greets him with, but is happy to help.

Danny’s memory is not good enough to allow for the possibility of saving every victim Five-0 has ever come across, but the one that immediately springs to mind is the kidnapped girl Amanda Morris. He now has the opportunity to save her life and get her back to her parents, so he uses his new secure phone to call in a tip about the couple who have been holding her prisoner for the past eight years. He also reveals the identity of the woman who kidnapped her to order in the first place, hopefully saving many other children in the process.

Next, Danny arranges to send the coordinates of the money Matt buried to Marco Reyes. He can’t do anything about the missing $5.5 million, but hopes that getting the rest of the money back to the cartel so quickly might be enough to save his brother.

Danny is sorely tempted to place an anonymous call to Joe White advising him to tell Shelburne that her identity is compromised and she should stay the hell away from her children, but ultimately he decides against it. Even though he truly believes it would be best for Steve and Mary, he doesn’t have the right to do it. Not to mention the fact that keeping such an enormous secret would undoubtedly be detrimental to the relationship he hopes to have with Steve, even if his partner never found out.

The more he thinks about it, the more stressed Danny becomes about the huge responsibility that’s been placed on him. It’s extremely hard to figure out what the best course of action is. For instance, he has the opportunity to save Malia, but in turn, that would alter the course of Abby’s future. He could also reveal Gabriel’s role in the death of Chin’s father, but there’s a risk that would derail Chin’s relationship with Malia. For now he resolves to do nothing and worry about it again at a later date.

Meanwhile, Danny still has his crappy apartment until the end of the month, so he has a few weeks to try to get his head around his new reality before moving in with Steve.

Over the next week, Danny does his best to adjust. He returns to work and tries not to treat Jenna any differently, but it’s very challenging. Working with Chin and Kono again is nice but also bittersweet. True to his word to accept Hawaii as his home, Danny stops wearing ties just a little earlier than he originally did, which Steve seems inordinately pleased about.

Danny spends a lot of time trying to think of a way to save Laura Hills without tipping off Governor Jameson that he’s on to her. Eventually, he comes to the unfortunate conclusion that his best chance to take Wo Fat off the board permanently, which is necessary given the man’s ability to escape custody, would be to catch him red-handed as he kills the governor and immediately put him down. To be able to do this, Danny would need to let things play out exactly as they had the first time, which would mean sacrificing Laura, plus Dale O’Reilly and the two cops who will end up escorting him, and of course Jameson herself.

It’s an agonizing decision, and Danny finds himself trying to justify his choice by thinking of the people who will be lost as technically already dead. He still wavers for a while, wondering whether he will end up destroying himself while he effectively plays god with people’s lives, but as he thinks back to seeing Steve after North Korea, and after being drugged and waterboarded, it becomes clear that it’s a chance he’s willing to take.

So he goes through the motions and tries not to fall apart while he witnesses deaths that he could have prevented. Events unfold much the same as the first time, except there is no call from Rachel. It seems likely that she won’t tell him about Charlie now until she makes it past the first trimester. Even though he now has nowhere to be, Danny still leaves Steve to his own devices to give him time to break into the governor’s mansion. It’s very difficult to maintain his composure when he meets up with Steve afterwards and his partner blames himself for Laura’s death. It’s certainly not Steve’s fault.

The next day, Danny once again initially changes nothing as Steve evades arrest and Kono gets taken in by Internal Affairs. But as soon as he can, he heads for the governor’s mansion and carefully conceals himself to watch the drama unfold as Steve arrives and takes out the entire security detail. Wo Fat arrives shortly afterwards. Danny very cautiously follows him into the building, but his quarry is apparently so arrogant that it doesn’t seem to occur to him to watch his own back.

As planned, Danny waits until Wo Fat shoots Governor Jameson, but then immediately enters the room. Wo Fat is in the process of putting the gun in Steve’s hand, but automatically raises it in Danny’s direction, which is all the excuse he needs to put three bullets in the asshole. Wo Fat is dead before he hits the ground.

Well aware that he’s being captured on John McGarrett’s hidden camera, Danny takes a moment to check on Steve, as it would look very strange if he didn’t, but then he glances over towards the camera. He heads across the room and looks directly into the lens before picking up the clock and smashing it (again). He figures that the video will still be a key piece of evidence to save Danny and Steve from being arrested for the deaths of the governor and Wo Fat, so earlier he had called himself with an ‘anonymous’ tip about the camera, providing justification for his presence at the governor’s mansion as well as his knowledge of the camera.

By this point, there’s the sound of sirens and other signs indicating the arrival of HPD. Danny returns to Steve’s side just as his partner is groaning and trying to sit up. Steve’s eyes are huge as he surveys the scene around him, but before either of them can say anything, Chin and several other officers arrive. Danny briefly explains what happened, and hands over the camera. Chin immediately finds a computer to check the footage, so within minutes they’re in the clear. But they do need to head back to HPD for a full debrief.

To some extent, Danny is flying blind now. There’s no way of knowing what all the consequences of this night will be. Hopefully, Denning will immediately decide to reinstate Five-0, because if not then this has been a bit of a disaster. But in any case, Danny has definitely saved Steve, and by extension himself and the rest of the team, from some highly unpleasant experiences. But only time will tell whether he’s made the correct decision.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’ve just got to say, the whole Doris & Wo Fat storyline is a giant mess of confusing inconsistencies, and the absolute nonsense that Lenkov added to the tale in 10x22 made the situation worse than ever, but I guess we’re all going to have to keep on pretending that it somehow makes sense…

Fortunately, Lieutenant Governor Denning does agree to reinstate Five-0, minus Kono of course, but Danny knows that they just have to wait for that situation to play out. With Wo Fat dead, it’s surprisingly easy for Danny to encourage Jenna to leave and go back home. He’s relieved to not have to keep up the friendly act with her, but hopes she will find a way to move on from the loss of her fiance and have a happy life.

Given that this time they haven’t found the original surveillance footage stashed by John on Molokai, Steve never learns of his father’s meeting with Wo Fat and never hears the word Shelburne, so as far as he’s concerned there is no lingering mystery around his parents’ deaths. Danny briefly worries that because of this he might lose Steve back to the Navy, but thankfully he seems content to remain on the island and actually seems a lot more at peace than he was at this point the first time around.

Danny begins to worry about the possibility of Daiyu Mei coming to avenge Wo Fat’s death sooner rather than later, so he decides that he’s going to take advantage of Doris’s skills and resources for once. He places that anonymous call to Joe after all, simply stating, “Tell Shelburne that the wife of her adopted son poses a threat to her actual son.” Hopefully, this will result in Doris going to take Daiyu Mei out. It will probably also spook her into remaining in the shadows, but at least Danny has done it for the greater good now rather than just because he doesn’t approve of her parenting decisions.

After a couple of weeks, Governor Denning still decides to add Lori to the team. Danny finds that somewhat comforting, as it should mean that many of their cases will proceed in a predictable way. Since he knows it will have a positive outcome, he allows the Jenn Hassley kidnapping case to go ahead without interfering. He doesn’t want to get a reputation for uncanny intuitions that break cases wide open and he’s also wary of using the anonymous tip ploy too often.

Interestingly, despite the fact that Five-0 hasn’t needed to call on his help this time, Joe still transfers to Pearl Harbor to oversee SEAL team training. Danny assumes he’s made an agreement with Doris to keep an eye on Steve. In any case, this means that they still get pulled in when members of SEAL Team Nine are being targeted. Danny curses his imprecise memory, because it’s possible he could have saved the second victim if he’d remembered the timing of this case earlier, but by the time Joe brings them on board, it’s already too late. Since he knows that no one else is going to die, once again he doesn’t intervene. Even though they now won’t need the help in North Korea, he doesn’t want to prevent Steve from meeting Wade Gutches, or to rob Steve of his heroic midair rescue and the team of the opportunity to watch Operation Payback.

Meanwhile, Danny moves in with Steve. It’s a lot more harmonious than the first time they tried it, as Danny is far more motivated to make it work and also now has no problem with the sound of the waves. He sleeps in the guest room except when he has Grace, to whom he surrenders the room and crashes on the couch.

Danny starts his campaign of getting to know each other better by talking to Steve whenever they have a quiet moment at home. He starts out with lighthearted stories about his past, but quickly moves on to more significant matters such as the deaths of Billy Selway and Grace Tilwell. He’s immensely pleased when Steve also starts to open up enough to share some of his own stories and eventually to talk to Danny about Freddie.

When they meet Gabby, Steve still encourages Danny to ask her out, but he says he’s not interested in a relationship, which is not at all accurate but he can’t exactly tell Steve the truth quite yet. Shortly afterward, Catherine gets sent to the other side of the world, so Danny figures he has a window of opportunity to try to win Steve over. Lori’s crush on Steve isn’t much of a concern given that the giant idiot appears just as oblivious to it as he was before.

Living with Steve presents the perfect chance to test the old adage that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Danny has a huge advantage in this area in that he already knows all of Steve’s favorite foods, possibly even better than Steve himself at this point. So he makes dinner whenever he gets the time, and pancakes for breakfast (with bananas and chocolate chips) at least once a week. Steve makes a few weak complaints about having to work off the extra calories, but always clears his plate.

Baking cookies when Grace is over is also a fun activity for all three of them. In fact, Danny tries to involve Steve in his time with Grace as much as possible. He feels like his willingness to share his precious time with his daughter is like a massive neon sign over his head declaring ‘I love you!’, but he’s not sure Steve realizes it. However, spending more time with Grace does appear to be helping to mellow Steve out a bit, so it’s all still worthwhile.

The weeks fly by, and Danny is generally satisfied with how things are going. At work, he’s accepted that he generally doesn’t remember Five-0’s cases until they’re already underway, and unless there are multiple victims in jeopardy, he lets things play out the same way. At home, Steve shows no signs of wanting to get Danny out of his space, despite Danny’s increasingly bold flirting. In fact, Steve asks Danny to help clear out his old bedroom downstairs so there won’t be any more need to sleep on the couch. When it’s done, they have a brief argument, as Steve wants to move down there to let Danny have the room closer to the one that Steve now refers to as Grace’s. As Steve is clearly not yet ready to entertain the idea of them sharing a room, Danny eventually goes along with it, even though it feels very bizarre to end up in Steve’s room without him.

In July, he calls a buddy in Newark PD to share his concerns that Rick Peterson might try to come after Danny now that he’s out of prison. His buddy agrees to keep an eye on the guy, and after a few weeks, Rick ends up back in prison after obtaining a fake ID and trying to leave New Jersey.

Rachel finally informs Danny about her pregnancy in August, but she does indeed claim that the baby is Stan’s. Danny demands a paternity test. Rachel does an excellent job of acting outraged and insulted, but of course he doesn’t back down. Once the results are in, Stan immediately files for divorce. Rachel makes one last attempt to get Danny to take her back so they can ‘be a real family’, but he makes it clear that that’s never going to happen. Rachel’s next move is to say that she has no attachment to Hawaii and wants to leave, but Danny tells her that he’s not letting her uproot Grace, or his own life, again. He informs her in no uncertain terms that he’s remaining in Hawaii, that he wants joint custody of both children, and that he’s prepared to take her to court to obtain both of those things. Surprisingly, having lost the support of Stan and his high priced lawyer, Rachel agrees to the custody modification without a fight. It’s possible she simply already has too much on her plate with the pregnancy and needing to find a new, more modest, home.

Distressingly, when he learns about the pregnancy, Steve’s first instinct is to encourage Danny to go back to Rachel. Danny patiently explains to him that having two parents who are together but no longer in love with each other is actually not in any child’s best interests. Feeling somewhat disheartened, Danny says he will move out as soon as possible and certainly before the baby arrives. However, constipation face makes an appearance at the mere suggestion of Danny and Grace leaving.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Steve says. “Finding a new home isn’t a decision that should be rushed.”

“Maybe not,” Danny replies. “But it would be better if Grace and I were settled in somewhere before adding a baby to the mix.”

“You could just stay here.” Steve is clearly striving for casual but not quite succeeding. “It would be a while until the new kid needs their own room.”

Danny meets Steve’s gaze for a long moment, wondering whether he’s imagining the implication that the sleeping arrangements might change before that time. But first things first… “Are you sure? Living with an infant is extremely stressful and messy. It’s definitely not what you signed up for when I asked to stay here.”

“Danny,” Steve says seriously, “before you moved in, I was just rattling around in this house with the ghosts of my parents. With you and Grace here, it finally feels like a home again. I don’t want to lose that.”

Danny takes a deep, steadying breath before he’s able to respond. “That’s great, Steve, I’m very happy to hear it. But I’m going to say it again: living with a baby is a whole new ball game. It’s not a decision you should take lightly.”

Steve stares at him intensely. “I know. And I still want you here. _All_ of you.”

Danny stares right back, desperately hoping he’s not reading this wrong, because it looks to him like Steve is trying to communicate that he loves Danny but is not yet ready to openly admit it. Hell, technically, Steve could still be kicked out of the Navy for being with Danny, although the DADT repeal date is fast approaching. But even once that’s no longer a problem, he suspects it could take a little while for Steve to really get his head around the idea that it’s safe.

Eventually, he gives Steve an understanding smile as he responds with a simple, “Okay.”

Steve smiles brightly as he pulls Danny into a hug. “Okay,” he echoes happily.

It sounds like a promise.


	4. Chapter 4

Danny spends the next month or so in something of a euphoric daze, enjoying the strange but wonderful reality of having joint custody of Grace much earlier than he originally did, while also continuing to grow closer to Steve.

When September 20, 2011 arrives, Danny desperately wants to celebrate the DADT repeal, but unfortunately it’s also the anniversary of John McGarrett’s death. They drop by the cemetery first thing in the morning, but then Steve insists on going to work, presumably to avoid dwelling on the tragic event. During dinner that night, Steve silently takes Danny’s hand and doesn’t let go until they settle on the couch afterwards, at which point he slides down far enough to rest his head on Danny’s shoulder and allows Danny to hold him. They don’t talk, but they don’t really need to.

Over the next few weeks, when they’re at home there’s a lot more hand holding and cuddling on the couch, although for purely practical reasons it’s generally Steve with his arm slung around Danny. They still don’t discuss this change to their behavior and Danny is content to wait Steve out and not try to push him.

After months of awkwardly watching Chin worrying about what he thinks has been going on with Kono, it’s a huge relief when the day finally arrives when it’s revealed that she’s been working undercover at Fryer’s behest. Danny has been racking his brain for a way to legitimately take Frank Delano out, but as the events of the day proceed just as he remembers, his fear that there’s no real opportunity for him to do so is confirmed, plus there’s the matter of becoming a target for Paul Delano to consider. But once Frank is behind bars, Danny still has months to try to find a way to prevent him from carrying out his evil plans, so he’s not overly concerned.

Watching Steve take part in the ridiculous charity fight turns out to be just as stressful as Danny remembers, but at least this time he gets to take him home, ice his injuries and generally fuss over him. Danny ends up solemnly confessing that seeing Steve get hurt is one of his least favorite things. Steve responds with a soft smile before discarding the bag of ice he’s holding to his eye, then pulling Danny close for a brief, gentle kiss. Afterwards, they simply gaze fondly at each other for a long moment before Danny hands Steve the ice again. Sticking to baby steps is just fine.

On Halloween, Danny remembers what’s about to happen in time to call HPD with an anonymous tip, directing them to the heiau in order to save the lives of the young couple who stumble across the black market cadaver tissue operation. With the murders averted, HPD handles the case, so Danny gets to enjoy a great night of trick-or-treating with Grace. Later, Steve and Danny start watching a horror movie but end up making out on the couch. It’s slightly amusing that Steve is clearly recycling his teenage moves, but Danny certainly isn't about to complain, even though they don’t progress any further than a lot of kissing and some light groping.

A week later, Danny finds himself trying to convince Steve to take in Agent Jennsen’s dog, Riley. Steve is extremely reluctant, but Danny remembers what he was like with Eddie, so he knows that if given a chance, Riley will win his partner over before too long. Steve makes the not entirely unreasonable argument that taking on a dog with a baby also on the way might be a bit much, but Danny’s counterargument is that if Steve can’t handle caring for a dog, he might not be ready for an infant. Given that Steve is never one to back down from a challenge like that, plus the addition of Danny’s final piece of ammunition that Grace has been asking for a dog, Riley gets to join the household. All it takes is a mutual love of running and swimming for Steve and Riley to swiftly become the best of friends.

Another week goes by before Steve suggests an actual date in the form of dinner and a movie. He seems surprisingly nervous about it given that they’ve essentially already been behaving like a couple for a while now. Danny tells him it’s okay if he’s not truly ready yet to take their relationship public like that, which is the first time either of them has ever acknowledged out loud that they’re even in one.

Steve fixes him with the most earnest expression Danny has ever seen as he says, “I love you.”

Danny is stunned; they really are doing everything in a very strange and unexpected order.

Steve’s lips quirk upwards slightly, probably in response to Danny’s wide eyes, as he continues, “And I’m done letting anyone tell me I shouldn’t.”

Danny’s eyes now feel suspiciously damp. “Okay,” he replies shakily. Then, with a bright smile, he adds much more firmly, “I love you too.”

He gets only a fleeting glimpse of Steve’s blinding grin before they’re reaffirming the sentiment with a joyful kiss.

It’s quite some time before they manage to drag themselves away from each other long enough to agree for the date to take place the next night. This means that they have to decline Max’s invitation to theme movie night. But at least they’ve given him an answer this time, thus avoiding a repeat of the uncomfortable silent treatment.

Arriving home together only to go their separate ways to prepare for their date feels a bit weird, but when they meet back up in the living room it’s clear that they’ve both put a lot of effort into their appearance. As Steve eyes him with open appreciation, Danny wonders for a moment whether they’re even going to make it out the door, but ultimately they do. At the restaurant, which is nice but not too fancy, Steve is initially on edge, glancing around as if anticipating an attack of some kind. But it’s not too difficult to distract him with lively conversation and good food. By the time they make it to the movie theater, he’s relaxed enough to hold Danny’s hand on the way in and to put his arm around him during the movie. Danny considers the night to be a fantastic success.

It only gets better when they get home and Danny finds himself pinned against the inside of the front door, receiving an intensely passionate kiss. He enthusiastically returns it for a while before gently pushing Steve back enough to meet his eyes, silently questioning his certainty. It’s immediately obvious that the time for baby steps is over. Danny grins as he shoves Steve back far enough to move away from the door, snagging his partner’s hand on the way past in order to lead him up the stairs. He pauses halfway up and turns around to enjoy a brief moment of looming over Steve for once while they kiss, but for safety’s sake, he soon continues their path to the bedroom.

Now that they’re assured that this is actually happening, they both seem content to slow down and take their time reverently undressing each other in between spectacular, heated kisses. Eventually, Danny ends up lying on his back with a gloriously naked Steve hovering over him with an expression of total awe.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this,” Steve murmurs.

Danny can’t hold back a slightly crazed laugh as he replies, “Definitely not as long as I’ve wanted it.”

Steve narrows his eyes at him like he’s about to try to argue the point, and it figures that he’d be competitive even about this, but Danny easily puts a stop to any further discussion by reaching up to yank Steve down on top of him and kissing him fiercely until they’re both breathless. They proceed to conduct an extremely thorough exploration of each other’s bodies.

Much later, as they curl up together, exhausted in the best possible way, Danny manages to summon up just enough energy to utter a heartfelt, “I love you.”

Steve yawns in the middle of his “I love you too,” which should not be as adorable as it is.

Danny falls asleep with a delighted smile on his face, happier than he’s ever been.

Over the next few days, they continue to get more intimately acquainted with each other, and Steve moves his stuff back into what is now their bedroom. Danny only hesitated over that for a moment before deciding that there’s no point in delaying; now that he has Steve he has no intention of ever letting him go, and the prospect of sleeping separately when Grace is with them is decidedly unappealing, so Danny intends to let her know about the change in their status as soon as they next see her.

They don’t tell the team, mostly just because Steve is amused by the idea of seeing how long it will take for anyone to bring it up, since the inevitable subtle differences in their body language should certainly be obvious to trained investigators.

It feels amazing to be able to celebrate Chin and Malia’s engagement without any interruptions in the form of a dead reporter or an insane trip to North Korea. As they congratulate Chin, he smirks at them and comments that it looks like there might be something else they should be celebrating. Steve responds by casually wrapping his arm around Danny without saying a word. Kono beams as she proposes a toast, “To falling in love,” which the entire group cheerfully acknowledges, since it clearly applies to both situations. Lori’s smile is a little strained, but that’s to be expected.

A few days later, their ohana gathers once again for Thanksgiving at the McGarrett house. Being surrounded by loved ones would have been more than enough, but Danny unexpectedly gets something extra to be thankful for in the form of a phone call informing them that Frank Delano is dead. Somehow, in his five weeks in Halawa, Delano managed to get on the wrong side of Victor Hesse, who clearly doesn’t care about adding more time to his sentence by shanking a fellow prisoner. It’s a bizarre turn of events that Danny could never have predicted, but he’s certainly not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

When the bus full of children gets kidnapped, Danny finds it incredibly difficult to stand back and not rescue them sooner, but he still believes that it’s safer to make no changes when he knows the outcome will be positive. Unfortunately, during the case, something much worse happens; they learn that Hiro Noshimuri is out of jail. Danny had never stopped to consider that with Wo Fat dead, Hiro will now remain alive and well on Oahu, heading up the local Yakuza. Consequently, Adam will remain in New York and most likely will never meet Kono. What the hell has he done?

Danny spends several days feeling absolutely wretched. Effectively, he has traded away Kono and Adam’s happiness in order to obtain his own. Steve is obviously immensely worried about him, especially since Danny refuses to talk about why he’s suddenly so miserable. Often, Steve ends up trying to distract him with sex, and Danny is only human so he never says no, but while it’s always phenomenal in the moment, inevitably he feels even more guilty afterwards. But eventually, seeing how much his misery is also distressing Steve is enough to snap him out of his funk. He doesn’t have any idea how, but somehow he’s going to fix this, and meanwhile it won’t do anyone any good if he destroys his own relationship.

To get them back on track, he tells Steve as much of the truth as is possible to explain his low mood; simply stating that he had experienced a moment of insecurity where he felt like he didn’t deserve to be so happy. It’s gratifying how quick Steve is to reassure him that Danny is the best man he knows and that no one is more deserving of happiness.

At Chin and Malia’s wedding reception, Danny is thrilled that Steve is comfortable enough to dance with him. Public displays of affection of any kind are still a rarity for them. As the party is winding down, Steve takes it one step further with a tender kiss. Shortly after, Danny’s phone buzzes with an incoming message; Kono has captured the moment and sent him the photo.

Danny looks around to find her and she grins at him across the room. He feels a fresh wave of affection for her and he’s more determined than ever to ensure she finds her own happiness, no matter how long it takes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trust me, I was just as horrified as Danny when I realized what I had done to Adam, lol.
> 
> Also, I couldn't find any evidence of the dog having a name, so I just made up my own.


	5. Chapter 5

Two days after the wedding, Danny jolts awake in the middle of the night from a nightmare consisting of a succession of images of every dead child he’s ever seen. He carefully squirms out of Steve’s grasp and heads directly for Grace’s room, quietly opening the door and immediately breathing easier as soon as he sees her lying in bed peacefully asleep. Riley looks up from his position at the foot of the bed and wags his tail briefly before settling back down.

One of the images from his dream pops back into Danny’s head; it’s Emily Winter, who he now remembers is due to be killed in about three weeks’ time. He considers the matter for a moment and decides that in the morning, while Steve is safely out of the way splashing around in the ocean, Danny will call a couple of journalists to tip them off about the substandard steel, although first he’s going to have to do a quick bit of research to recall the name of the company involved. If the story breaks in time, there should be no more motive for murder. Danny also makes a mental note to call Ala Moana Academy to inform them of the Lookbook spyware.

Riley raising his head again alerts Danny to Steve’s presence a few seconds before his partner embraces him from behind, joining him in silently observing Grace for a few more minutes. Eventually, Danny reaches out to close the door before turning in Steve’s arms and kissing him softly. They return to bed without a word.

A few days later, Danny takes the afternoon off work to accompany Rachel to her latest prenatal checkup. Things have been a little strained between them since she learned about his relationship status; it doesn’t take a genius to correctly surmise that Danny was already interested in pursuing Steve at the time he ended his involvement with Rachel. But they have at least remained civil.

After the very positive appointment, they go to pick Grace up from school on the way back to Rachel’s place. They’re a little early, so while they wait, Rachel broaches the subject of baby names. Rachel wants the baby’s sex to be a surprise, but says she wants to honor her father either way, with Charles or Charlotte. Danny readily agrees, but tells her he wants to pick the middle name.

Rachel smiles as she says, “Whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t sound ridiculous.”

Danny suspects she might not be feeling quite so accommodating in a moment, as he informs her, “I’m thinking Steven. Or Stephanie.”

As expected, Rachel frowns. “Don’t you think that’s a tad precipitous?”

“Not really, no,” Danny replies seriously.

Rachel stares at him for a long moment. Danny thinks that she’s finally realizing that she truly has no chance of getting him back.

“Fine,” she says eventually. Surprisingly, she sounds completely genuine as she adds, “I hope he never gives you reason to regret it.”

“Thank you,” Danny responds with equal sincerity. They smile at each other and Danny reaches out to take her hand, feeling hopeful that they might actually become friends again.

Grace arrives shortly after, and when they get back to Rachel’s, Danny accepts her invitation to come inside for a while. He’s definitely never going to say no to extra time with his daughter.

Later, as he’s driving home, Danny takes a moment to reflect on how much he had once loved Rachel, even though they’re completely wrong for each other. Of course, he’ll never regret being with her, thanks to Grace and Charlie, but the original end of their relationship was one of the worst experiences of his life.

He’s been thinking about the failure of Kono and Adam’s marriage a lot lately too, and wondering whether they might be better off never getting together in the first place. Now that he’s had more time to recover from the initial shock of the unintended consequences of his actions, he’s also come to realize that anything he does to try to ‘correct’ the situation might in fact inadvertently make things worse. Maybe he’s going to have to start trusting in fate; surely if Kono and Adam are meant to be, Adam will somehow end up back on the island at some point? In any case, Kono certainly doesn’t seem unhappy or lonely at the moment, so he thinks that for now he’s going to just wait and see what happens.

When he gets home, Steve’s truck is parked outside, so it must have been a quiet day at the office. Danny finds his partner sitting on the couch, blankly staring directly ahead, with his phone in one hand while he absently pets Riley with the other. He appears to be so lost in his thoughts that he doesn’t notice that Danny has arrived.

“Hey babe,” Danny says softly. Steve startles a little but then gives him a welcoming smile, which is a relief. Still, he asks, “Is everything okay?”

Steve suddenly seems to realize he’s holding his phone for no reason, and puts it down on the coffee table. “I’m good,” he claims, but it’s not particularly convincing. Danny’s skepticism must be obvious, as he continues, “I was just, uh, talking to Catherine.”

Danny says nothing, just shoos Riley off the couch so he can sit down, then waits for Steve to elaborate.

Steve sighs. “I told her it’s over between us. I knew it was going to be a difficult conversation, so I’ve been putting it off. It also seemed like something I should do in person, until I realized it wouldn’t be fair to Cath for her to waste her leave, coming here with mistaken expectations.” Steve reaches out to take Danny’s hand. “I swear, the delay is no reflection on my commitment to you. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Danny responds without hesitation. “And I trust you.”

Steve gives him an adoring smile before drawing him into a slow, gentle kiss. Just when Danny is considering making things more interesting, Steve abruptly breaks away to ask, “Is the baby okay?”

Danny grins. “He’s good.”

“He?” Steve repeats excitedly.

Oops. Danny chuckles. “Just a hunch.”

Steve huffs in frustration. “Not that it matters,” he’s quick to clarify. “But the suspense is killing me.”

Danny laughs again before launching himself at Steve and ensuring they’re too occupied for any further discussion. By this point, Riley has been banished often enough under similar circumstances that he leaves the room of his own accord.

A week later, it’s Christmas, and they have Grace, so Danny and Steve get to experience the dubious pleasure of being woken in the early hours. But Grace’s excitement and enthusiasm are infectious and heartwarming, so the exhaustion is more than worth it. Eventually, Grace runs off outside with Riley to try out some of his new toys, and Danny finds himself watching as Steve stands in the middle of the wreck of his living room, surveying the mess of scattered gifts and wrapping paper with a look of shock, before a beautiful, delighted smile takes over his face. Danny is so overwhelmed with love for him that he can barely breathe.

Steve looks over to meet Danny’s eyes and it’s clear that the feeling is mutual, as Steve ignores the impulse to start tidying up in favor of joining Danny on the couch, pressing a kiss to the top of his head before settling in to simply hold him close for a brief period of contented peace before Grace and Riley return.

Dropping Grace off at Rachel’s later in the day is just as difficult as always, but it’s mitigated by the fact that he gets to return home and drag Steve upstairs to exchange some far more intimate gifts. Danny plans to ensure that every Christmas from now on is just as fantastic as this one.

Three relatively uneventful weeks go by before Danny gets the call that Rachel has gone into labor a few weeks earlier than anyone except Danny expected. Naturally, he leaves work immediately to hurry to her side. There’s no hypnobirth bullshit to deal with this time, thank god, but the emergency C-section still becomes necessary. When Danny calls Steve to let him know, Steve immediately says he’s leaving work too so he can be there for Grace, which is incredibly touching. Danny sincerely hopes that the team can manage without him, but in any case he’s definitely not about to tell Steve not to come.

After Charlie is safely delivered, Danny goes to find Steve and Grace to let them know. Once she knows that her mom and her baby brother are both okay, Grace immediately wants to know what the baby is called. Danny’s focus is initially on Grace while he reveals Charlie’s full name, but as soon as she smiles her approval, he turns his attention to Steve, whose eyes are comically wide and glistening.

A short time later, after introducing him to Grace, Danny hands Charlie to Steve for the first time, and although it’s difficult to look away from his perfect baby boy, he carefully watches Steve’s face, observing the mixture of absolute awe and slight terror as he clearly falls instantly, hopelessly in love. Whether Steve knows it or not, he’s a parent now. Danny is very much looking forward to embarking on this journey together.


	6. Chapter 6

Since Charlie has arrived early, Rachel’s plan to be supported at home by her mother after giving birth is in disarray. Once it becomes clear that Amanda is unable (or perhaps just unwilling) to arrange an earlier flight, Steve immediately suggests without any prompting that Rachel and Charlie should stay at the McGarrett house when they’re released from the hospital. Danny has never loved him more. Rachel hesitates briefly, but as she’s recovering from major surgery she has to admit it makes sense.

So, when Charlie is three days old, Danny finds himself helping Rachel to settle in to the downstairs bedroom. She’s clearly exhausted just from the short journey, so he leaves her to get some rest, receiving a grateful smile as he departs.

Returning to the living room, he finds Steve, Grace and Riley all completely enthralled by the baby in Steve’s arms. Danny takes a moment just to appreciate how incredibly lucky he is, before crossing the room to join his family.

Over the next two weeks, Danny is on paternity leave, so he spends his days caring for both Rachel and Charlie. Grace is a willing and attentive helper whenever she’s not at school, but Danny is careful to ensure he also spends some time with her that does not revolve around her new brother. Steve is also around quite a lot; the rest of the team seems to be conspiring to send him home as often as possible.

Danny had somehow forgotten exactly how demanding caring for an infant can be, but of course it’s also extremely rewarding. Getting to bond with Charlie like this is an amazing privilege, and sharing the experience with Steve is better than he ever could have imagined. It doesn’t take long for Steve to become an excellent parent; in the early days, he devotes his full attention to learning everything he needs to know, until his proficiency at childcare tasks rivals or surpasses Danny’s own, and he remains completely unfazed by the sleep deprivation and constant exposure to disgusting bodily substances. Apparently Hell Week really does prepare a person for anything.

By the time Amanda arrives on Oahu, Danny, Steve and Rachel have become a very effective parenting team. Rachel returns to her own home, but they agree to a flexible custody arrangement, whereby on Danny’s weeks Rachel gets to keep the kids while he and Steve are at work, and on Rachel’s weeks Danny and Steve drop by for at least a couple of hours a day whenever possible. They might need to return to a more traditional arrangement in the future, but for now they’re all grateful for each other’s support and it works out well for everyone. Even Amanda has nothing negative to say about it, although Danny really wishes she would stop trying to flirt with Steve. He doesn’t know whether to feel relieved or insulted that she has never behaved that way with him.

Charlie is four weeks old when Danny arranges to have a private conversation with Rachel, seeking reassurance that if something terrible happens to him, she won’t take the kids away from Steve. Clearly, his partner has thoroughly endeared himself to her by this point, as she doesn’t hesitate before solemnly promising that she wouldn’t do that. Then she smirks at Danny as she advises him to marry Steve as soon as possible, saying that if he doesn’t, she might be tempted to try her own luck. Danny lets out a startled chuckle, Rachel giggles in response, then they both end up laughing uncontrollably for quite some time. They’re definitely much better off as friends then they ever were as a couple.

Despite the inevitable fatigue, life is good. Danny and Steve’s romantic relationship might still be relatively new, but it’s rock solid. They still bicker about ridiculous, trivial things, but genuine disagreements are rare and quickly resolved; Danny is determined to make the most of his second chance, and given all the positive changes he has made to their lives, he and Steve are both much more relaxed, happier people than they originally were at this point, so it’s far easier for them to get along. Watching the way that Steve now interacts with Grace and Charlie fills Danny with a level of joy he’s never previously experienced. 

With Rick Peterson still behind bars, Danny’s U.S. Marshal buddy Dave Collins arrives safely on the island and meets up with Danny and Steve for drinks. It’s immensely satisfying, knowing that the man will now get to return home to his wife and children. Not to mention the fact that Danny has successfully saved Grace from the trauma of getting kidnapped.

A week later, at the Governor’s charity fundraiser, Danny realizes that he can’t stand by and allow a young woman to die, even if he can’t quite recall her name right now. He excuses himself and goes to the lobby, successfully using his badge to obtain the master key from security, before waiting for the would-be victim to appear. As soon as he lays eyes on her, he remembers Victoria Chase. At the last possible moment, Danny gets in the elevator with Vicky and the drunken fool she used to gain access to it. While she gets out on the eleventh floor to help the guy to his room, Danny goes directly to the twelfth floor.

It takes a moment to remember which room is the right one, but once he does, Danny lets himself in to the room next door, which fortunately turns out to be unoccupied. He wedges the door open slightly so he can listen for Vicky’s arrival. As soon as the yelling begins, Danny hurries to follow her into room 1215. Vicky has already been knocked to the ground by Dmitri Vonakov, who is standing over her with the heavy vase in his hand already on a downward arc towards her. Danny opens fire, ensuring that the scumbag will never harm another woman again. The vase falls harmlessly to the floor beside Vicky, but Vonakov lands partially on top of her. Danny quickly moves to roll the body off of her and assure her that she’s safe now, then immediately calls Steve to let him know that Danny is responsible for the gunshots and the danger is now over. Maybe Five-0 will be able to get control of the panicking crowd and allow the fundraiser to continue, although Danny can’t say he’s bothered either way.

When he arrives on the scene, Steve is understandably shocked and confused. Danny tells him that he had noticed Vicky acting suspiciously in the lobby and heard her arranging to meet someone in room 1215, so had investigated and intervened once he heard the disturbance. Steve is a little annoyed that Danny didn't call for backup, but accepts his explanation that he hadn’t wanted to drag anyone else away from the governor’s event on the basis of nothing more than a hunch.

Governor Denning is slightly displeased that the evening was interrupted, but can’t argue with the worthy result of a young life saved. At least there’s no international incident this time. If anything, the governor now has the opportunity to brag about the impressive skills of the Five-0 task force.

Consequently, Lori is not forced to resign. However, interestingly, she does so anyway a few days later. She says she’s feeling homesick and wants to return to Homeland Security, but lovesick would probably be a more accurate description. In any case, the team throws her a goodbye party and wishes her well.

During the Brandon Koruba case, Danny barely manages to contain the inappropriate urge to laugh hysterically when Steve asserts with great confidence that time travel doesn’t exist. There’s a part of him that would very much like to share the unbelievable truth with his partner, but he knows it’s not an option.

A week later, during the investigation into the murder of Bobby Raines, Danny is faced with an interesting dilemma; he has the opportunity to save a life, but it’s the life of a murderer. Ultimately, he decides not to intervene. He’s not about to risk bringing unnecessary attention on himself for the likes of her. Danny and Steve still meet up with Tony Archer for pizza when the case is over. Tony still jokingly offers to be their marriage counsellor. The difference is, this time Danny sees Steve giving him a speculative sideways glance shortly afterwards. He pretends he hasn’t noticed. As always, he’s prepared to allow Steve to set the pace at which their relationship progresses.

He almost changes his mind and comes perilously close to spontaneously proposing a few days later, when he arrives home from a shopping trip with Grace to the sound of Steve’s voice drifting down from their bedroom. He’s quietly singing to Charlie. Danny has never heard Steve sing before.

Grace grins at him as the pair of them sneak up the stairs to listen in. Now that they’re closer, Danny recognizes the song as ‘Hey Jude’. He still maintains that the Stones are the better band, but he can’t deny that the Beatles certainly have the edge when it comes to songs that could potentially soothe a baby. Steve might not have the strongest voice in the world, and he definitely doesn’t have perfect pitch, but it’s still the most beautiful thing Danny has ever heard.

Steve stops a minute or so later to murmur, “Sweet dreams little man,” before his footsteps indicate that he’s leaving the room.

Grace flees at high speed into her own bedroom, but Danny steps into the doorway to let Steve know he’s been caught being utterly adorable. Danny’s gaze is naturally drawn to Charlie’s crib, where his son is now peacefully sleeping. As usual, Riley is lying as close as he possibly can so he can intently watch over his most vulnerable pack member. When Danny returns his attention to Steve, who by now is within touching distance, he initially looks a little embarrassed, but his expression soon shifts into a delighted smile as he takes in the no doubt absolutely besotted look on Danny’s face. They greet each other with an infinitely soft, loving kiss.

Danny refrains from proposing that day, but he does make a snap decision to buy Steve a guitar for his rapidly approaching birthday. It’s a lot earlier than last time, and Steve has not yet got around to declaring his passion for music and sharing his stage fright story, but Danny figures he can get away with the gift after what he just witnessed. If he’s secretly hoping there might be a serenade in his future, that’s purely incidental.

When Steve’s birthday arrives, it starts out a lot differently this time; originally Danny had pretended he was unaware of the date so that he and the team could surprise Steve with a cake later in the day, but he can’t do that now that they’re together. So he presents Steve with the guitar, then happily allows Steve to express his gratitude by dragging Danny back to bed. Consequently, they’re still at home dozing when Mary shows up for her ‘surprise’ visit, so she gets to spend a lot more time with them.

While Steve is downstairs cheerfully engaged in showing Mary the thousands of photos and videos he has of the kids, Danny sneaks away to tip off HPD about the Liberian smuggler waiting in Mary’s hotel room. He doesn’t remember the room number, so has to give Mary’s name, fully expecting that someone at HPD will make the connection and call Steve. Danny also takes the time to call Halawa to advise the guards to toss Kaleo’s cell so they can confiscate his phone.

As predicted, not long after Danny rejoins Steve and Mary, Steve receives a call informing him that HPD has received an anonymous tip that Mary has been targeted by a smuggler. Danny gets tasked with escorting Mary to HQ to keep her safe, while Steve sets off to lead the assault on the hotel. In the car, Mary takes the opportunity to threaten Danny with bodily harm if he ever hurts her brother. He informs her that he’s never going to hurt Steve intentionally, but adds that should he do so accidentally, he won’t even try to stop her from beating the crap out of him. Mary eyes him silently for a short time before apparently accepting his sincerity and gracing him with a wide smile.

With the diamonds now seized at the hotel rather than the airport, Kaleo’s brother doesn’t get the chance to carry out his plan to attack the transport, so two more cops get to keep breathing and go home to their families. Mary is crushed to learn that her ‘friend’ Angela had tried to set her up, but at least she was spared the distress of being threatened at gunpoint and taken into custody by the TSA.

A month goes by in relative peace, with routine cases at work and plenty of quality family time at home. Charlie is of course growing and developing rapidly. Steve is a lot less self-conscious about singing to him by this point. Apparently, he remembers Doris singing Beatles songs to Mary when she was a baby, which Danny has a hard time picturing, but clearly Doris wasn’t always a terrible mother.

Thankfully, there’s no reason for Steve to disappear off to Japan, so he’s present for the Trashman case. Danny struggles with the idea of putting Max in jeopardy, but there isn’t actually any solid evidence against Deacon MacKenna, so there’s no choice but to allow the case to play out so the man will reveal his own guilt. Steve and Danny do however arrive at the church early enough that Max doesn’t have to save himself this time.

Three weeks later, when they learn that there’s the threat of a deadly smallpox outbreak on the island, Steve immediately suggests that Danny should take Rachel and the kids to New Jersey. Although Danny knows that everything is going to be fine, it would look incredibly suspicious for him to appear to be recklessly endangering his children, so he agrees that Rachel should take them to the mainland but argues that he doesn’t need to accompany them. Steve is just as stubbornly insistent that Danny should go.

Danny huffs in frustration. “Steve,” he says seriously. “You can’t try to keep me out of dangerous situations. It wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the team.”

Steve shakes his head. “If anyone else had kids, I’d be sending them away too.”

Danny glares at him as he growls, “ _You_ have kids.”

Steve closes his eyes and takes a deep, shuddering breath. When he meets Danny’s gaze again, he’s clearly fighting back tears. “Yeah,” he says softly. “But we can’t both go.” He reaches out to place his hand on the side of Danny’s neck, with his thumb brushing his cheek, which is probably as demonstrative as he’s going to get while on the clock, before continuing, “Please. I need you to keep them safe.”

As moving as that is, Danny still hesitates, unsure if he wants to let Steve win this one.

“Come on,” Steve tries again, with an imploring look in his big, sad eyes. “Are you really going to make Rachel travel alone with two children?”

“Fine,” Danny replies with a defeated sigh. Let Steve have all the fun with NCIS. “But,” he continues, causing Steve’s relieved smile to waver, “when the crisis is over, you are going to join us. For a vacation. In Jersey.”

“Deal,” Steve agrees swiftly, looking a lot less displeased by the idea than Danny was expecting. He belatedly realizes that he basically just invited his partner to meet his parents.

Professionalism be damned, they part with a quick kiss and an exchange of I love yous.

Rachel is understandably a bit put out by the impromptu trip, but she cooperates easily enough. In order to get off the island as quickly as possible, they take the first available flight to San Francisco, where they then have a considerable layover, so it’s a long, stressful day before they arrive in Newark.

Danny’s parents, sisters and extended family are of course thrilled to see him and Grace again and to meet Charlie. When Steve shows up a few days later, he’s also welcomed with open arms. Danny’s mother is horribly embarrassing as she gleefully informs Steve that he’s the first man Danny has ever brought home. Less than twenty-four hours later, once she manages to get Danny alone, she pointedly declares Steve to be a keeper. Danny acknowledges this with a contented smile and a simple, “I know.”

Steve initially seems somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer size and volume of the Williams family, but adjusts to it soon enough. They spend a wonderful week visiting some of Danny’s favorite spots while Steve slowly gets to know everyone better. In the end, Steve seems just as reluctant to leave as Danny is, although at the same time, it will be nice to get back to the relative peace of their own home.

Just two days later, as they’re sitting on their beach watching the sunset, Steve abruptly gets up and moves to stand in front of Danny before dropping down to one knee. Danny stops breathing.

“Danny,” Steve begins, with a hint of nervousness. “I love you more than I ever thought possible. Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” Danny replies eagerly, immediately sliding out of his chair, joining Steve on the sand in order to celebrate with a sweet, lingering kiss. When they eventually separate, they part just enough to gaze at each other with matching elated smiles, until an interesting thought suddenly occurs to Danny. “Were you waiting to meet my parents?”

Steve looks decidedly shifty.

“Oh my god. Did you ask for their blessing?”

“Maybe.”

Danny laughs delightedly. “You are such a goof,” he says with unmistakable fondness.

Steve just gives him a soft smile. “But I’m _your_ goof.”

Yeah, he is. Danny grins as he moves in to kiss his fiance again, with no intention of stopping any time soon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hold on to your hats folks, this is weapons-grade fluff XD

Danny suggests the second Saturday in June for their ‘wedding’ date; technically it will only be a civil union, but Danny intends to call Steve his husband no matter what the law says, and unless he inadvertently changes the very fabric of society, they’ll be able to get married for real in a couple of years. It’s possible he’s getting a little ahead of himself, but he thinks their second anniversary might be the perfect time to do that. In any case, the date he has chosen is less than four weeks after they got engaged, but after being in love with Steve for far longer than anyone else will ever know, Danny is definitely done waiting. Also, he thinks it would be nice for Steve to officially have step-parent status before Father’s Day. As he’s not privy to either of these thoughts, Steve is shocked at first but readily agrees before too long, clearly moved by Danny’s unshakable certainty.

Naturally, their friends and family members are also surprised by the incredibly short timescale, but no one tries to talk them out of it, which Danny considers to be proof that the depth of their love for each other is obvious to everyone. The only real problem is that there isn’t enough time for Danny’s family to make the necessary arrangements to attend. Mary and Aunt Deb will however be able to make it, mostly because they have no work commitments. The fact that the event will be livestreamed isn’t quite enough to appease Danny’s parents and sisters, but a promise to travel to Jersey for Thanksgiving does the trick.

With Wo Fat and Frank Delano both dead, the weeks leading up to the wedding are relatively uneventful. Without their leader, Delano’s gang has either disbanded or they’re sticking to less outrageous crimes, so Fryer remains alive, Max doesn’t get shot, HPD does not get blown up, and Kono and Malia are both safe. Now that they’re free from Wo Fat’s influence, neither Hiro Noshimuri nor Victor Hesse have shown any inclination to continue directly antagonizing Five-0 or any other law enforcement officers.

Steve wants to invite Jenna to the wedding. Danny has no grounds to refuse, but he’s relieved when she calls to decline and wish them well. It turns out that she’s back with the CIA now, and she takes the opportunity to inform them that someone has been gradually dismantling Wo Fat’s organization; Daiyu Mei and several other prominent figures who might have been in line to take over have been killed. Some were tortured first. Danny suspects that Doris might think that the tip off about Daiyu Mei came from within Wo Fat’s inner circle and therefore she’s trying to find out who knows her secret. If that’s the case, he’s quite content for her to continue barking up the wrong tree as long as it means she’s causing pain and misery anywhere other than here.

Eventually, the big day arrives, and Danny finds himself in a situation the original 2012 version of himself would have found preposterous; participating in an exchange of leis as he prepares to marry his best friend on the beach in their back yard. Steve of course looks fantastic in his tux, but as he places the lei around Danny’s neck, kisses his cheek and murmurs “Aloha,” it’s the look of total adoration on his face that transforms him from ridiculously handsome to breathtakingly beautiful.

As they stand before their gathered ohana and vow to love and support each other always, Danny is in such a state of ecstatic disbelief that he begins to feel lightheaded, but he allows Steve’s warm gaze to ground him and somehow he makes it through the ceremony without embarrassing himself. It is however impossible to avoid shedding a tear following the exceptionally tender kiss that he shares with his husband as soon as they’re given the opportunity. When their eyes meet again, it’s clear that Steve is similarly affected, so they press their foreheads together and simply hold each other close for a minute or two while they regain their composure.

As soon as possible, Danny and Steve take the time to make a Skype call to Danny’s family, who have all gathered at his parents’ house to watch the wedding together. Danny assumes Eric is in charge of the technology. He briefly wonders whether Joe might have sent the livestream link to Doris, but quickly dismisses the thought in favor of focusing on the parade of heartfelt congratulations coming from his own loved ones. It’s almost as good as having them present. Steve grins and happily complies every time someone asks him to hug or kiss Danny on their behalf.

While they’re busy with the call, their guests helpfully rearrange the furniture outside so the festivities can commence. Much of the rest of the day passes by in a merry blur of food, champagne, and dancing. They keep things relatively informal, with anyone free to propose a toast, but no awkward, scripted speeches. Danny starts to lose track of how many people he’s danced with, but he rarely makes it through even one entire song before Steve decides to steal him back, which most of their guests seem to find highly entertaining.

At one point, after a bathroom break, Danny goes to check on Charlie, who was miraculously peaceful in Rachel’s arms during the ceremony and has had no shortage of willing caregivers throughout the day, but was put down for a nap about an hour ago. He finds Riley lying in his customary position beside the crib and takes a moment to pet him and offer up a quiet, “Good boy.”

Danny has been standing watch over his sleeping son for a few minutes when Steve steps up behind him, wrapping his arms around Danny as he peers over his shoulder at Charlie for a moment, before whispering directly in his ear, “Hi hubby.”

Danny huffs in amusement at the absurdity of it and yet is also unable to suppress a shiver. Pressed against him as he is, there’s no way Steve didn’t feel it, and indeed, out of the corner of his eye, Danny sees a smug smile appear on the gigantic oaf’s face. Danny can’t resist taking hold of Steve’s left hand with his own and holding them both out in front of them in order to admire the matching heavy gold bands now adorning their ring fingers.

Charlie is beginning to stir, so Steve speaks at a much more normal volume as he ardently declares, “I love you. So much.”

If Danny’s heart soars any higher, he might actually start floating. But he’s quick to claim, “I love you more.”

“ _Impossible_ ,” Steve insists.

Danny turns his head to capture Steve’s lips in a gentle, unhurried kiss. It’s not the most comfortable angle, but he couldn’t care less. They only break apart when a now fully awake Charlie interrupts them with a giggle, instantly drawing their full attention.

“Hey buddy,” Steve coos as he reaches past Danny to scoop Charlie up and cuddle him close.

Danny laughs a little at the speed at which he was abandoned, but he doesn’t really mind. In fact, he couldn’t be happier that Steve is so enamored with both of the kids. They take Charlie with them as they head back to the party, with Riley trailing along behind.

When they step outside, they find Rachel, Mary and Aunt Deb sitting around a table on the lanai. They all greet the happy couple with bright smiles as Rachel pointedly glances towards the baby monitor in the middle of the table. Danny chuckles. At least they weren’t caught out doing anything worse than behaving in a sickeningly sweet manner. Steve just grins, appearing thoroughly unconcerned, as he hands Charlie to Deb when she reaches out expectantly. He then grabs Danny by the hand to drag him back out to the ‘dance floor’, which is really just an open area of lawn.

Although Danny’s attention is initially completely focused on his gorgeous husband, eventually he begins to notice the other people around them. Seeing Chin and Malia gazing at each other with open devotion as they dance is a wonderful reminder that it’s not just Danny and Steve who have greatly benefited from Danny’s meddling with the course of events. He also spots Kono looking very cozy with Charlie Fong, which is certainly interesting. Finally, he watches with an indulgent smile as Grace dances with Max.

Eventually, the time comes to hastily say goodbye to everyone, so that they have enough time to change and make it to the airport for the last flight to Kauai, where they’re going to be spending the next week. Governor Denning has been surprisingly accommodating both in terms of allowing them the time off and in making no attempt to split them up at work. Danny idly wonders what if anything Lori said about their relationship in her reports.

Riley is going to be staying with Rachel and the kids, so while he gives his daughter a parting hug, Danny makes Grace promise to help out her mom by taking good care of their fur baby.

It’s a dreadful shame that Danny doesn’t get the chance to strip Steve out of his tux, but there’s no time for any delays, so they change separately. He consoles himself with the thought of the luxurious honeymoon suite that awaits.

When they finally arrive at said suite, Steve opens the door and dumps their luggage inside, but blocks Danny from entering the room, glancing over with a glint in his eye.

Danny sighs, having anticipated this. “You want to carry me over the threshold.”

It’s a statement, not a question, but Steve still responds with an enthusiastic, “Yes,” as he gleefully reaches out.

Danny skillfully evades him, producing a quarter from his pocket as he proposes, “I’ll flip you for it. If I win, I’m carrying you.”

Steve eyes him with a skeptical frown.

“Steven,” Danny says sternly. “You might be a giant, but I’m not going to collapse under your weight in a matter of seconds. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m just as strong as you are.”

“Yeah, you are,” Steve acknowledges, seemingly beginning to see the appeal of the idea as his lustful gaze slides over Danny’s prominent muscles.

Danny is satisfied that he’s made his point, so he’s not disappointed when Steve wins the toss and triumphantly sweeps him off his feet before carrying him not just over the threshold, but all the way to the bed, where he’s more than willing to immediately get started on consummating their union. It’s an unforgettable, exquisitely pleasurable night.

Tragically, they’re no longer twenty, so over the course of the week, they do occasionally have to take a break and step outside of the hotel. Danny agrees to go hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, and even surfing, which he’s been avoiding thus far due to the inexplicable increase in his level of skill, but there’s not a lot he wouldn’t do at this point to make Steve happy. His husband does eye him suspiciously for a moment, but probably assumes he’s secretly been practicing with Kono, and actually seems rather appreciative of Danny’s ‘new-found’ proficiency. At one point, because Steve is apparently incapable of making it through more than a few days without attracting some kind of drama, they end up having to rescue a couple of swimmers in distress. But when it doesn’t involve bullets flying past them, Danny quite enjoys watching Steve being heroic, so it’s all good.

Although spending so much time alone together is delightful in its own way, by the third day, Danny is beginning to really miss the kids. This is the longest he’s been away from them since Charlie was born. Steve has some prior experience thanks to his adventure with NCIS, but he’s clearly struggling too. Grace has been keeping them updated with frequent texts, but it’s not at all the same.

Luckily, while they’re debating whether calling would seem pathetically clingy, Rachel calls them, allegedly at her wits’ end because she can’t get Charlie to settle. So Danny gets to sit back and enjoy while Steve sings ‘Let It Be’ over the phone, before they both participate in a very comforting chat with Grace.

They manage to make it through the rest of their superb honeymoon without any further phone calls, but when they arrive back on Oahu on Saturday afternoon, Steve drives to Rachel’s with a speed that is decidedly hard to justify outside of an emergency situation. But no cop is going to pull over the Camaro, and for once Danny doesn’t complain at all. Finally getting to hold both kids again, while also being exuberantly greeted by an overjoyed Riley, is a huge relief.

Rachel is clearly exhausted after a week of caring for the kids without the usual periods of respite that Danny and Steve provide, so they stick around and thank her by making dinner, before finally taking the kids home with them at the end of the day and putting them to bed before joyfully retiring to their own.

In the morning, Danny has to stop Steve from getting up as soon as they hear Grace moving around downstairs much earlier than normal.

“We should leave her to it,” he explains around a yawn, giving Steve a quick kiss before nudging him into lying back down for a restful cuddle.

Some time later, Grace knocks quietly on their bedroom door, pausing briefly before running right in when there’s no warning not to enter. She hugs Danny and announces, “Happy Father’s Day!” in an energetic but hushed tone, always mindful of her baby brother. Danny watches fondly as Grace moves on to repeat the hug and the sentiment for Steve, who looks surprised but elated about being included; his husband is adorably clueless sometimes.

“Come on, I made breakfast for you!” Grace continues excitedly, promptly bounding out of the room.

Danny and Steve follow at a slightly more sedate pace, leaving a still sleeping Charlie where he is for the time being. Grace is waiting for them by the table, on which she has set out two plates of what appears to be an impressive attempt at french toast and scrambled eggs, accompanied by glasses of juice.

“Wow, good job monkey,” Danny comments as he and Steve take their seats.

Grace beams as she hands him a homemade card, lovingly addressed ‘To Danno’. Grace has signed not just her own name, but has also added Charlie and Riley’s names, beside a tiny hand print and paw print respectively, which is insanely cute. Danny wonders how on earth his daughter persuaded her mother to let her put paint on both the dog and the baby like that, but smiles widely as he hugs Grace again and thanks her profusely.

Now for the really fun part, as Grace moves on and holds out another card for Steve. Danny knows what’s coming, as Grace had discussed it with him as soon as she learned they were getting married, but poor Steve is obviously not at all prepared to see the words, ‘To Daddy Steve,’ staring up at him from the brightly colored piece of card. He audibly gasps, looking even more overwhelmed than he was when he heard Charlie’s middle name.

Fortunately, Danny had warned Grace that Steve’s reaction might be somewhat foolish, so she’s not upset by his stunned silence. Danny reaches out to slowly open the card, letting Steve see the inside, which is pretty much identical to Danny’s own card. The giant goof is blinking back tears by this point, but visibly pulls himself together when Danny gently squeezes his hand.

Steve finally turns to give Grace a tremulous smile. “Thanks Gracie,” he says unsteadily, as he pulls her close for another hug. He clears his throat and continues more firmly. “It’s beautiful. I love you.”

“I love you too, Daddy,” Grace replies swiftly.

Holy crap, Danny’s heart can barely take this, so god only knows how Steve is feeling. He distracts himself by getting started on breakfast, which is genuinely delicious, so he doesn’t hesitate to praise Grace again for her hard work. Before too long, Steve also manages to start eating and quickly joins him in complimenting their amazing little girl.

As the rest of the day slowly passes by, Steve continues to look astounded every time Grace calls him Daddy. Danny cheerfully joins in by referring to Steve that way any time he has a reason to mention his husband to either of the children or even to Riley. When discussing the matter with Grace and Rachel, they’d agreed to only bother adding Steve’s name afterwards in situations where it’s not immediately obvious which one of them is being addressed. In the case of the Father’s Day card, Grace had needed to make it clear that she hadn’t just handed Steve the wrong one.

That night, when they climb into bed, Steve gives Danny a slow but passionate kiss before retreating just enough to stare at him with what appears to be immense gratitude in his eyes. Sure enough, Steve confirms this with a slightly shaky, “Thank you.”

Danny’s smile is full of false innocence as he asks, “For what?”

“For giving me a family.” Steve’s tone is almost painfully earnest.

“I love you,” is the only response Danny can come up with.

Steve just moves in to kiss him again. Danny smiles against his husband’s lips and rolls on top of him, determined to take his time reminding Steve exactly how much he’s loved. It’s difficult to imagine how life could get any better than this.


	8. Chapter 8

A few weeks later, Danny’s state of blissful happiness is slightly dented when Five-0 are assigned to a homicide investigation that he has absolutely no recollection of. It’s vaguely possible that HPD handled it last time, so it might not be a ‘new’ murder, but he finds it disturbing nonetheless. The idea that his interference might somehow now be costing lives is hard to stomach, but he’s saved so many others that he has to believe that on balance he has created a more positive world.

Another week goes by before there’s a welcome development that thoroughly raises Danny’s spirits; Chin and Malia invite everybody over for dinner and announce that they’re going to have a baby in seven months’ time. They’re both glowing with joy and Danny feels privileged to witness it. As he glaces around the cheerful group, his eyes land on Kono and Charlie Fong, who are now officially dating. There’s no way to predict the potential longevity of that relationship, but Kono seems happy enough for the time being, so Danny is also content.

As time marches on, Danny finds that Five-0’s cases are now rarely happening exactly the way he remembers; it’s as if the universe has suddenly reached a tipping point, with unexpected ripples from all the alterations Danny has made now beginning to spread like wildfire. Sometimes it’s just small details that have changed, like the exact timing and manner of death, but there are also some cases that don’t happen at all and others that are definitely new. Occasionally the reason for the change is obvious, like when their trip to Steve’s dad’s secret fishing spot takes place on a different day, so they don’t encounter the boatjacking murderer, but most of the time it’s a total mystery.

There’s also been a subtle change in how they go about solving cases, in that although Catherine is back on the island, Steve usually goes to Joe now if he needs access to Navy intel or other resources; since there was no unsanctioned rescue mission in North Korea, Joe was never forced to retire and is still training SEALs at Pearl Harbor. Asking your father figure for big favors is certainly preferable to asking your ex.

The first time that Steve gets hurt on a case that didn’t happen in the original timeline, it’s a huge and highly unpleasant shock; one second Steve is engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the bad guy they’re after, and the next they’re both taking a tumble down a nearby flight of stairs. As Danny approaches, it’s immediately obvious from the unnatural angle of his neck that the other man is dead, and for a heart-stopping moment, Steve is also completely motionless, before he groans and tries to sit up.

“Don’t move, you idiot,” Danny commands as he drops down beside his partner, which is how he’s been forcing himself to think of Steve when they’re at work, to avoid accidentally introducing him as his husband.

“I’m fine, I know how to take a fall,” Steve claims, but when he meets Danny’s no doubt somewhat panicked gaze, he actually surrenders and remains still until a paramedic arrives to evaluate him. It’s gratifying to know that he’s at least a little bit more inclined to respect Danny’s concerns now that they’re married.

Thankfully, it turns out that Steve was right; he’s a bit banged up but doesn’t have any serious injuries. Still, it’s a hell of a wake-up call for Danny; up until this point he’s been assuming that they’ll both survive until at least 2020, but he doesn’t think he can rely on that anymore. He’s going to have to ensure he makes the most of every second with the people he loves, just like anyone else who has no knowledge of what the future may hold.

Spending time with the kids is of course a never-ending source of joy. Charlie is more active now, crawling and babbling away merrily. Danny and Steve decide that it’s time for him to move out of their bedroom, so they spend a weekend redecorating both of the other bedrooms, so they can move Grace downstairs and Charlie into the room she has now vacated. Although he likes to guard Charlie during the day, Riley has always slept in Grace’s room at night, so she won’t be totally alone downstairs, which is comforting for them all.

As Halloween approaches, Danny recalls that there’s a deranged nut job intending to commit two ritual murders, which is one of the few memorable crimes where the timing can’t possibly change. Initially he can’t remember the guy’s name, but when he gets a moment alone in the office with a few days still to go, he identifies Seth Tilton the same way they did the first time, by looking up animal cruelty cases. He’s surprised to learn that Tilton was killed in a car accident several months earlier. Although Danny is glad he won’t have to find a way to save the young woman and the cop who were previously killed, it’s still a little unsettling.

Since he hasn’t been able to remember the exact date, Danny has been keeping an eye on prisoner releases, waiting for Curt Stoner’s name to pop up, which finally happens during the first week of November. Danny intends to wait a couple of weeks for the asshole to violate his parole before calling to tip off HPD about his location.

But first, there’s still a terrorist cell to deal with, although Qaseem Ramzi blows himself up a few days earlier this time, also moving all of the subsequent events forward. Danny is careful to maintain a comfortable distance from Hasan Farooq when they take him down, so he doesn’t trigger the proximity sensor on the bomb. All in all, it’s a much less stressful experience, and three days later he and Steve both get to accompany Grace to the father-daughter dance, which makes Danny ridiculously happy.

Danny’s plan to deal with Curt Stoner goes off without a hitch; HPD sit on the apartment building and eventually manage to catch the guy, not just for skipping his parole but also in possession of a firearm, so he ends up safely back behind bars long before he’s able to do any more than think about harming any of the cops on his hit list. Saving lives is always satisfying, but preventing the loss of people Steve cares about is even better. Not to mention sparing Duke from being shot and the entire team from the distress of Steve being targeted.

It’s Danny’s turn to have the kids for Thanksgiving, but since Rachel is now a very close friend, they invite her along on the trip to New Jersey so that she won’t have to spend the holiday alone. Having departed from Honolulu on Wednesday evening, they arrive early on Thursday morning, to a wonderfully chaotic house practically overflowing with all of Danny’s family members. It’s a great day. Danny particularly enjoys watching Steve quickly becoming relaxed and at ease, fitting in as if he’s known everyone for years. The meal itself is of course fantastic, although Danny could have lived without the inevitable discomfort that results from overeating.

Friday is a much calmer and quieter affair, initially spent just with Danny’s parents, before Stella and Eric arrive in the afternoon. Danny takes the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart with Eric, giving him a much needed reality check and steering him towards a career in forensic science a couple of months earlier than before. It’s possible that without the trip to Hawaii, Eric might not end up wanting to move there once he’s qualified, but Danny can’t worry about that right now. It feels more important to set his nephew on the correct path immediately, hopefully reducing the strain on Stella in the process.

Bridget has been spending the day with Ted’s family, but she drops by in the evening, looking very serious as she asks if she can speak to Danny alone. They end up retreating to Danny and Matt’s childhood bedroom, which has long since been transformed into a guest room that he and Steve are currently occupying. The conversation is so unexpected and overwhelming that Danny is still struggling to process it when his husband shows up to check on him, about five minutes after Bridget has left.

“Hey,” Steve greets him cautiously. “Bridget said she might have broken your brain?”

Danny huffs out a quiet laugh. “Yeah,” he confirms. He holds out his hand as he adds, “Come here, babe.”

Steve quickly complies, sitting beside Danny on the edge of the bed and taking the offered hand. His eyes are full of concern.

Danny carefully holds Steve’s gaze as he explains, “Bridget asked me if you and I want to have another baby. Specifically, a baby genetically related to both of us, which is apparently a gift she’s willing to try to give.”

Steve’s hand tightens around Danny’s as his expression shifts to total shock and disbelief, which is probably exactly how Danny looked not so long ago. After a few seconds, it’s briefly replaced by a look of fierce longing, before shifting once again into confusion and doubt.

“Danny…” Steve pauses, obviously struggling to collect his thoughts. “I love Grace and Charlie _so_ much…”

“I know,” Danny interrupts to reassure him. “But it’s okay to want this too.”

Steve takes a deep, shaky breath, before asking, “Do _you_ want it?”

This exact scenario would never have occurred to Danny, but as soon as Bridget floated the possibility, he immediately wanted it desperately. He struggles to keep his voice steady as he says, “What kind of a dumb question is that? I love having kids, and I love you, so of course I want to have another baby with you. Besides, look at you babe, you probably owe it to humanity to pass those genes on.”

“I don’t know about that,” Steve says with a chuckle. But his smile is radiant as he continues, “So, we’re doing this?”

“Absolutely,” Danny responds with a matching smile. “Bridget said that if we wanted to take her up on her very generous offer, we should meet with her and Ted tomorrow to discuss logistics and make sure everyone is happy. Although I did already tell her that it’s her own problem that her husband is not as hot as mine, so she’d better not have any designs on conceiving the old fashioned way.”

Steve laughs and shudders simultaneously, which is an entertaining sight. Then he graces Danny with the softest of smiles before moving in for a series of gentle, leisurely kisses.

The next day, Bridget enlists Eric to collect her kids and deliver them to their grandparents so that the important discussion can proceed without any interruptions once Danny and Steve arrive at her place. Although he already did so the previous day, Danny asks Bridget again if she’s one hundred percent sure she wants to do this, pointing out that handing your newborn child over to other people to raise is a really big deal, even if one of those people is your favorite sibling. Bridget just smiles serenely and solemnly declares that she’s given it a lot of thought. Ted also assures them that he’s completely on board, which is kind of him considering the detrimental effect that the process will undoubtedly have on his sex life.

Danny hesitates briefly when his sister suggests that they start trying right away; he and Steve have only been married for five months and Charlie is still just ten months old. But Bridget makes the excellent point that none of them are getting any younger, and even in the unlikely event of conception on the first attempt, it will be at least ten months before the new baby arrives. Also, it might be nice for Charlie to have a sibling relatively close to his own age, and for Danny and Steve to put their infant care skills to good use again before they start getting rusty.

It turns out that Bridget truly has given the matter careful consideration, and has done enough research to know that the best chance of success with artificial insemination is to use a sample that’s as fresh as possible… which is such a weird thing to be discussing with his little sister, but things are only going to get more awkward from here, so he’s going to have to learn to deal with it. Anyway, she advises them that the plan is for her to visit them in Hawaii for a couple of days every four weeks or so until such a time as the desired outcome is achieved, assuming of course that everything checks out when Steve visits a fertility clinic, which is going to be high on the agenda as soon as they get home.

Danny expresses some concerns about the costs involved, but Bridget tells him not to worry about it. She reveals that Danny’s parents had started a baby fund shortly after meeting Steve and seeing the way he interacts with Grace and Charlie. Every member of the family and some of their close friends have been contributing to it. This news is so unbelievably touching that Danny and Steve are both close to tears as they stare at each other for a long moment, squeezing each other’s hands almost to the point of pain, but drawing strength and comfort from the contact.

But even above and beyond that, what Bridget is prepared to do for them is unquestionably the most staggeringly selfless act imaginable, so Danny gives her an unusually long and heartfelt hug before they depart, with promises to constantly keep in touch so they can coordinate their efforts to bring a new life into the world.

As soon as they’re alone, Steve reaches out to hug Danny as best he can in the confines of the car, apparently so overcome by the force of his emotions that he’s trembling. Danny simply returns the embrace and gently caresses his husband’s back and his hair while waiting for him to work through it.

Eventually, Steve sighs heavily before murmuring, “Your family is amazing.”

“ _Our_ family,” Danny corrects him. “But yes, they are.”

Steve pulls back from the hug far enough to give Danny a brief but very expressive kiss before releasing him entirely so they can return to his parents’ house, where they both greet his mom and dad with warm hugs and roughly whispered thanks. Rachel is looking on with open curiosity, so later in the day, after the kids have gone to bed, they let her know what’s going on. She smiles widely as she wishes them luck with the endeavor, but they all agree not to mention it to Grace for now.

Most of the next day is taken up by the long journey back to Oahu. After dropping Rachel and the kids off, they stop on the way home to collect Riley from Chin and Malia. Naturally they stay for a while to catch up and check how the expectant parents are doing. With three months to go, Malia is beginning to feel a little uncomfortable, but is still greatly enjoying the more positive aspects of the experience. Steve looks awestruck when Malia invites him to feel the baby kick, although Danny also detects a hint of envy. Malia and Chin don’t show any sign of having noticed that second part.

The following day is Monday and they’re back at work, but Steve finds the time to arrange an appointment at a fertility clinic for Wednesday, which is the earliest they can possibly do it. This does mean they have to abstain from sex for the next two days, but it’s a worthy sacrifice, especially when they get the results on Friday and learn that everything is fine.

The week after, they still get the call from Arlo asking for help investigating the sinister note found in the models’ makeup trailer. Danny might be happily married this time around, but he still has eyes and he can’t help but appreciate the beautiful women. Steve is decidedly unimpressed and prickly about it. When he’s about to stomp off after getting the call about the bank robbery, Danny reaches out and grabs his arm to stop him.

“Hey,” Danny says quietly. “I love you.”

Steve’s annoyance visibly lessens as he silently examines Danny for a moment before deigning to respond, “I love you too.”

Danny smiles mischievously. “You have nothing to worry about, babe. You’re far prettier than any of them.”

Steve’s face contorts into a highly amusing and clearly conflicted expression, suggesting that he’s pleased by the compliment while also affronted by the unmanly nature of it. Since there are no other police officers in sight, Danny decides that it’s okay to break their rule against PDA’s while wearing their badges, hauling Steve down for a kiss that’s a lot less innocent than any they’ve previously shared in public. It’s obvious that Steve is surprised at first, but it doesn’t take long for him to enthusiastically reciprocate. He grins at Danny when they separate, then smacks his ass as he leaves.

Danny laughs breathlessly; he should have predicted that Steve would take things a step too far, but since Danny started it he can’t really object. He heads over to interview the models, who all quickly look elsewhere as if they weren’t just intently watching the action. It doesn’t stop them from flirting with Danny, but he mostly just finds it funny now. 

Later, Danny learns that although the staged bank robbery still went ahead, Sabrina was only grazed by the bullet and received treatment at the scene rather than being taken to hospital. It’s yet another odd and inexplicable change. Hopefully the fact that her first date with Max will now be a much more conventional one won’t do their relationship any harm.

The random changes just keep coming when the Aloha Girls camping trip occurs without incident. Danny learns from his original mistake and discusses appropriate topics with his crazy husband ahead of time. While he still insists it’s a valuable life skill, Steve agrees that the pig murdering can wait until the girls are a little older, so the event is a lot less traumatic all around, for which Danny is immensely grateful. It turns out that Ron was more seriously injured this time when jumping from the plane, and his accomplice apparently decided to cut his losses rather than aimlessly wander in search of the diamonds, so both Ron’s body and the stones aren’t discovered until a later date.

Meanwhile, Michael Noshimuri arrives on the island after his release from prison, but Adam is not present to greet him. It seems that Hiro is determined to keep at least one of his sons clear of the Yakuza.

When Christmas Eve arrives, it’s Steve rather than Danny who goes to help Kamekona buy the helicopter, which frankly makes a whole lot more sense. Technically it’s Rachel’s turn to have the kids for the night, but since they’re on such good terms, they’ve arranged to all spend the holiday together at the McGarrett-Williams residence. 

Getting to spend the whole of Christmas Day with the kids is definitely the best gift Danny receives this year. It’s made all the more amazing by Charlie choosing to take his first steps with all three of his parents and his big sister there to witness it. Danny’s face starts to ache from smiling so much as he hugs an excited Grace while watching Rachel and Steve encourage their son to practice his new skill some more. With any luck, by this time next year another precious new addition to the family will be on the way or maybe even already present.

Bridget shows up during the first week of January for their first attempt to make that happen. It’s an extremely strange experience for all of them but they somehow get through it. Two weeks later, they’re unsurprised but still disappointed by the negative result.

On a happier note, there’s no reason for Paul Delano to have Chin thrown into Halawa now. This also means no escape for Sang Min, but Danny doesn’t particularly care about that.

Life goes on, and it’s Valentine’s Day when Chin gets the call that Malia has gone into labor. The work day has barely begun and all they’re doing is catching up on paperwork, so they cheerfully send him on his way. At noon, Danny leaves his own office and joins Steve in his, where they sit on the couch holding hands while waiting for Bridget to call with the outcome of her second visit. After an anxious few minutes, Danny’s phone finally rings and Bridget quickly puts them out of their misery in the best possible way; jubilantly confirming that she’s pregnant this time.

Once they’re done sharing their joy and gratitude with the world’s best sister, they celebrate with a tender kiss that lingers for quite some time. Eventually, they’re interrupted by an incoming text from Kono, which is just an entire row of winking emojis. They both laugh wildly for a moment, but switch to a more office-appropriate hug. It’s too early to share their news with anyone else yet, plus they don’t want to overshadow the other blessed event that’s currently underway, so it’s a good thing they can blame their behavior on the date.

Later, they observe Valentine’s Day and also continue their more personal celebration with a quiet candlelit dinner at home, followed by a couple of rounds of perfectly unhurried, spectacularly intense lovemaking.

It’s 4:57 a.m. when Danny is woken by a message from Kono announcing the safe delivery of Chin and Malia’s daughter, Alana. Danny smiles contentedly before turning his attention to Steve, who surprisingly is still out for the count. He’s usually a very light sleeper, so Danny allows himself a moment of smug satisfaction at having worn him out so thoroughly. The happy news will keep until a more sensible hour, so Danny just snuggles back up against Steve and tries to shut his brain off enough to return to sleep. As he’s about to drift off, he finds himself grinning like a loon as he contemplates how many more tiny new people the members of Five-0 might end up adding to this wonderful new reality.


	9. Chapter 9

Time seems to pass by incredibly quickly; soon enough it’s mid-April and Bridget is safely past the first trimester, so Danny and Steve are free to share their exciting news, to the immense joy of all their friends and family members.

Unfortunately, a few days later, the mood becomes much more somber when the time comes for Steve to travel to North Korea to retrieve Freddie’s body. Over the past few months, Steve and Catherine have successfully salvaged their friendship from the wreckage of their romantic relationship, so she still accompanies him, which Danny is extremely grateful for. No doubt if she wasn’t there, Steve would have gone off on his own and could have been killed.

Another couple of weeks go by before Danny finds himself once again having to endure the ridiculous Savannah Walker show ordeal. They make it clear to Savannah and her team that their personal lives are not up for discussion; although Steve and Danny’s relationship is not a secret as such, they don’t exactly advertise it either. Danny suspects Governor Denning must have done something to keep the local press from reporting their status. In any case, with no Wo Fat to complicate proceedings, this time the murderer Tony Leeds gets to be taken alive by Five-0.

In early May, Danny firmly vetoes Steve cutting his hair as short as he did last time. Steve yields to Danny’s preference without putting up much of a fight. He’s not the same man Danny remembers from the original 2013; without suffering through all the endless evasion and subterfuge from Joe and Doris, he doesn’t have such serious issues with trust, so consequently his control issues are also a lot less severe. Add to that the fact that Danny now has some far more enjoyable ways to try to influence him, and compared to his former self, Steve is much more pliable.

Danny worries that all of that would instantly change if Steve ever learned that Doris is alive and Danny has known it for years. It’s such an enormous secret to be keeping from his husband, and the possibility that Danny might slip up and say something he shouldn’t is a constant source of stress marring his otherwise idyllic life. Even though Steve is arguably better off not knowing, Danny can barely stand the guilt when they go to visit Doris’s crypt on Mother’s Day.

It’s a bold and risky plan, but the following week, when he’s out running errands alone, Danny drops by Joe’s place. Joe seems surprised to see him but welcomes him in nonetheless.

As soon as the door closes behind him, Danny gets right to it, without even giving Joe a chance to offer him a seat or something to drink. “So, I heard a rumor that Doris McGarrett is a former CIA operative who faked her own death… and you might be in contact with her.”

Joe’s poker face is excellent as he calmly says, “That’s crazy talk son. Who told you that?”

“That’s not important.” Danny tries to remain equally calm but it’s quite the struggle. “You’re telling me it’s not true?”

“Absolutely not. I take it you haven’t shared this insane theory with Steve?”

“Of course not. Why would I get his hopes up like that if it turned out to be nonsense?”

Joe smiles a little at that, still maddeningly calm as he lies his ass off. “It is nonsense, so you were right not to tell him. Is there anything else I can help you with, or are we done here?”

“I guess we’re done. Thank you.” Danny makes as if to go, but pauses with his hand on the door handle and speaks again without looking at Joe. “If it _was_ true, I would want you to tell Doris that her children deserve to know the truth, and to hear it from her… but unless she’s able to play a real part in their lives without putting them in danger, she should stay the hell away from them.”

With that, Danny leaves without a backward glance. He has no idea what will happen now, but he’s hoping Doris will find a way to get in touch with Steve and Mary without actually showing up. If she does contact them, he can only pray that she will provide a good enough explanation to prevent Steve from insisting on meeting with her. On the other hand, should she choose to stay out of the picture, at least Danny might now have a little plausible deniability if the secret ever comes out some other way.

A few days later, a security guard still loses his life when the eleven bodies are moved from the Yakuza body dump on the light rail site. Danny feels a little bad that he didn’t remember it was going to happen, but as time progresses, many of the details of the original timeline are becoming increasingly fuzzy. In an unexpected turn of events, Michael Noshimuri and more than a dozen other members of the Yakuza are found dead following a shootout at the warehouse where the disinterred bodies are stored. Word on the street is that Michael grew tired of waiting to inherit his father’s power and attempted a coup, but Hiro got wind of it and lured Michael and his supporters into an ambush. Shortly after, Hiro hands over his assets, with the exception of the legitimate business run by Adam in New York, and control of the local Yakuza to Goro Shioma before retiring to Japan.

Another two weeks pass before Joe shows up one evening when the kids are with Rachel. He stays just long enough to hand Steve a memory stick and inform him that it should be destroyed or very securely stored once they’ve viewed the contents. Then he departs with a preemptive apology. Steve looks understandably apprehensive as they settle on the couch to check it out.

As soon as Steve opens the video file and Doris appears on the screen, he makes a horrible strangled sound and blindly reaches out for Danny, who immediately takes Steve’s hand in both of his. He’s glad that Steve is so fixated on the video that he doesn’t look in Danny’s direction, so there’s no need to try to manufacture the appropriate level of surprise.

Danny remains silently supportive throughout the long message, which starts with an apology and an explanation of the events that led to Doris faking her death and her reasons for remaining hidden ever since. She reveals that she has been keeping tabs on Steve and Mary the whole time and says that although there’s nothing she would like more than to see them again, it isn’t safe given that her identity is compromised. Doris begs Steve to respect that and reminds him that his main priority should now be the safety of his own children, which Danny grudgingly appreciates. She goes on to say that she’s so proud of the man Steve has become and confirms that she did indeed watch his wedding and is very glad to know that he’s happy. At this point she addresses Danny, thanking him for being there for Steve and adding in a vaguely threatening way that she’s trusting him to take good care of her son. She then asks Steve not to tell Mary yet, as Joe is on the way to deliver a separate message to her, and also to forgive Joe for keeping the secret. Finally, she signs off with “I love you”.

Steve remains motionless for several minutes, staring directly ahead at nothing before turning his watery eyes towards Danny.

“Oh, babe,” Danny murmurs as he moves to wrap his husband in a comforting hug. He doesn’t ask if Steve is okay, because clearly he isn’t. Who would be after something like that?

They stay still and quiet for a long time, but eventually Steve pulls himself together enough to actually share what he’s feeling, which naturally is a number of conflicting emotions, the primary ones being happiness that his mother is alive, sadness that they can’t be together, and anger at the devastating effect that Doris’s choices had on the lives of Steve, Mary and John. Danny just listens and keeps his opinions to himself while Steve continues to talk it through, although obviously he’s ecstatic that Steve feels able to open up to him like this, even if he has to maintain the hug and therefore not make eye contact while he does it. Of course it’s also a huge relief for Danny to no longer be burdened with such an important secret.

Once Steve is finally all talked out, he pulls back from the hug enough for a slow, gentle kiss, before shifting to sit side by side, with one arm still around Danny, while he plays the video again. When it’s over, Steve takes the memory stick and stashes it in the lock-box under the floorboard that Doris had revealed the existence of during the message. He briefly glances at the other items in there but leaves them alone for now; apparently he’s reached his limit of emotional experiences for the day.

But the next day, when Mary calls, after the inevitable initial period of freaking out, Steve pulls up the floorboard again and they go over the contents of the box together. Danny offers to give them some privacy, but Steve just rolls his eyes and yanks him down to sit beside Steve on the floor. Having already been dismissed by Steve, Riley immediately insinuates himself into Danny’s space instead, so Danny focuses half his attention on petting the dog while listening to Steve and Mary’s conversation. Getting to hear Steve reading out Doris’s diary is certainly interesting; while Danny is never going to be overly fond of the woman, his frosty dislike of her might be thawing slightly.

Thankfully, Steve and Mary seem to help each other to reach a state of peace when it comes to accepting the bizarre new reality of their family situation. Danny hopes that since Doris has been up front this time about not being able to be in their lives, rather than showing up and then disappearing again, they won’t suffer from the same level of abandonment issues.

During the first week of June, Bridget calls to let them know that everything looks good on her second sonogram and, since Steve wanted to know, the baby is a boy. Grace is a little disappointed at first, complaining, “I’m already so outnumbered in this house, even Riley is a boy!” But after thinking it over for a moment, she smiles and comments on how Charlie will probably enjoy having a brother. Danny grins and somewhat evilly suggests that she should tell her mom she wants a sister; Rachel has only recently started dating again so she won’t be impressed.

When they call Aunt Deb to share the update regarding the pregnancy, Danny notices that she sounds tired and strained, so he refuses to take “I’m fine,” for an answer and pushes her for a more honest reply. Eventually she admits to having a persistent headache. Danny tells her that he once knew someone who had the same problem but ignored it until ultimately discovering that they had a brain tumor that was by then in an advanced stage. Steve is horrified and makes Deb promise to get a scan ASAP. Consequently, her tumor is found at an earlier stage and the outlook is more hopeful, although obviously they’ll have to wait and see how it responds to treatment.

Danny can’t quite believe it when their first anniversary rolls around; the year has gone by so swiftly and being married to Steve is better than he ever could have dreamed. They celebrate with another fantastic trip to Kauai, although it’s only a weekend this time.

When the members of Five-0 get introduced to Lou Grover, and Danny realizes that the man’s first week in Hawaii has passed without serious incident, he wonders why no members of the NLM ever showed up on the island. He can understand why the changes he has made have had major effects on the way events occur on Oahu, but he’s not sure how he has altered the actions of a terrorist group based elsewhere. Danny checks and discovers that there was still a thwarted attempt to attack Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco; clearly he was otherwise occupied and missed the news when it was reported. Who knows, maybe the dismantlement of Wo Fat’s organization is having global repercussions, or perhaps Jenna has been assigned to the Latin American counter-terrorism desk at Langley. 

In the end, it doesn’t really matter why things have turned out differently. Danny is just grateful that he didn’t get a gun to his head and that no one was kidnapped. Of course, the silver Camaro hasn’t been destroyed either, but it now feels wrong somehow, so Danny replaces it with the black one anyway. Seeing Lou reminds Danny of some unpleasant things to come, so he calls the FBI and advises them to investigate Ian and Aaron Wright for cyber terrorism. He briefly worries about how differently things are unfolding with Lou, but assumes that Steve will find some other way to piss off the SWAT captain, and in all likelihood he will still somehow become a good friend.

When Danny is informed that Catherine is considering retiring from the Navy and has been offered a job by Billy Harrington, he suggests that Steve invites them both to join Five-0 instead. Obviously he’s hoping this will save Billy, but the reason he gives Steve is that it would be better if the team was a little larger so they could each be on call less often and achieve a better work-life balance, which is completely true. Danny and Steve would definitely benefit from being able to spend more time with their new baby when he arrives, and Danny is also aware that Chin and Malia have been struggling given that both of them have crazy work schedules.

Billy is hesitant at first but he and Catherine both meet with the entire team and after a lengthy discussion they agree to come on board. Since Kono hasn’t had to go on the run this time, things will now be very different around the office, but hopefully in a decidedly positive way.

On a more personal note, Steve’s behavior at Grace’s baseball games is still appalling, but Danny is not about to point out that there’s no kissing in baseball when he’s the one being kissed.

In July, they still meet Jerry for the first time while seeking his help with the case involving the Royal League and the Medici rings. Danny treats him a little more kindly this time and suggests that Steve officially takes him on as a consultant right away. Steve looks at him like he’s crazy, but acquiesces when Danny just grins and tells him he has a good feeling about Jerry and the more the merrier, right?

Meanwhile, Kono attends a friend’s wedding in New York and breaks up with Charlie Fong when she returns. It transpires that she met Adam while she was there, and although she cares for Charlie, her connection with Adam was instant and profound. Since Adam is more than willing to pay for the flights, she starts visiting him regularly, and is almost giddy with happiness, despite the exhaustion of spending such a high percentage of her weekends in transit. Danny suspects it’s only a matter of time before they get tired of dealing with the distance and one of them resolves to make a big change so they can be together. Obviously he hopes it will be Adam that decides to move.

Steve and Danny are both at Grace’s cheerleading competition on the day that Billy was killed in the original timeline. Thankfully this time the other P.I. hired by Mrs Cutler just calls HPD rather than intervening directly, so Mr Cutler is the only person who dies. The team is more than capable of dealing with the case without any assistance from their leaders.

The months continue to fly by. Catherine, Billy and Jerry all settle in well. Danny hardly ever recognizes the team’s cases now, but for the most part it’s not a problem. Inevitably they all suffer minor injuries on occasion, but nothing too traumatic happens. However, as predicted, Steve still manages to get on Lou’s bad side during a joint Five-0/SWAT operation.

With almost shocking speed, there are suddenly just two weeks to go until Bridget’s due date, which is October 24. They’ve had go-bags ready for quite some time just in case, and have transitioned Charlie to a toddler bed so they could move the crib back into their room, but it’s at this point that they travel to New Jersey. The governor has been very understanding of the situation and generous with the amount of time off he is allowing them to take; they’re both getting however long it takes for the baby to arrive, plus two weeks afterwards, then they’ll have an additional ten weeks of parental leave to divide between them as they see fit, but with one at home and the other in the office during that time.

After spending a few days catching up with his family, Danny decides to do some forward planning and tracks down Ray Gardner so they can have a chat. He goes alone, leaving Steve to continue waiting on Bridget hand and foot. Gardner looks exceedingly surprised to find Danny on his doorstep, but thankfully does not immediately attack. While making it clear that the guy deserved to go to prison for the heinous way he treated his wife, Danny apologizes for his own unprofessional conduct. He’s not totally sincere, but he’d really prefer to avoid being shot, particularly since he also intends to avoid ending up in quarantine and would therefore have no way of predicting when Gardner might strike. Unfortunately, the idiot decides he’s done listening and resorts to violence after all, but he’s unarmed so it’s not so bad. Danny allows him to get a few good punches in before subduing him, hoping that will be enough to exorcise his anger. To that end, Danny also neglects to call the police, since getting Gardner thrown back behind bars certainly won’t help the situation.

Steve is livid when Danny arrives home hurt after his unspecified errand and demands to know what the hell he’s been up to. Danny takes some liberties with the truth, telling Steve he had gone to meet ‘an old friend’ he had fallen out with and that he had failed miserably in his attempt to make amends. He says what happened is entirely his own fault and asks his husband to let it go. Steve sighs but says nothing further, just carefully kisses Danny’s busted lip.

At the weekend, they meet up with Kono and Adam at a restaurant in New York. It’s weird but gratifying to see them both so relaxed and carefree this early in their relationship. When Kono goes to the bathroom, Steve seizes the opportunity to grill Adam on Chin’s behalf. Danny just sits back and watches with amusement while Adam gives all the right answers and manages to gain Steve’s reluctant approval.

Back at home, Danny decides to try to resolve his parents’ marriage problems before they’ve even begun. He’s pretty sure there won’t be any disagreement about spending the vacation fund on a sports car this time, as he suspects the money has already disappeared into the baby fund. Still, he has a chat with his dad about the importance of not taking his mom for granted and encourages him to make plans for them to spend time together once he retires.

Being away from Grace, Charlie and Riley is difficult, but they get to see them and speak to them every day using Skype. Grace is excited and impatient for her new brother’s arrival.

But no one is more impatient than Bridget once her due date passes by with no sign that the little guy intends to show up. Three days later, Danny jokes that it’s definitely Steve’s kid, as he seems to be on island time already. Labor finally begins in the early hours of October 30. Bridget is immensely relieved, commenting that giving birth is enough of a horror show without it taking place on Halloween. That’s a fair point, which is why, although she is allowing them into the delivery room, Steve and Danny are under strict instructions to remain at the top end of the bed.

Ten hours later, Freddie Daniel McGarrett emerges into the world, healthy and perfect. Bridget doesn’t want to hold him right away, figuring that would only make things more difficult for herself, so it’s a shirtless Steve who gets to enjoy the first precious moments of skin to skin contact. Danny’s hands are shaking while he attempts to take photos of the breathtaking sight, but eventually he succeeds.

When it’s Danny’s turn to cuddle Freddie close, Steve spares a brief moment to take a photo before plastering himself against Danny’s back and wrapping his arms around both of them. A kind nurse quickly claims Steve’s phone to document this moment too. With both hands occupied with much more important things, Danny has to simply let his tears of joy slide down his face. Although he doesn’t take his eyes off his new son, Danny is pretty sure Steve is in a similar state. They can’t possibly ever thank Bridget enough. Later, when she feels like she’s ready to hold the baby and introduces herself to him as Aunt Bridget in a somewhat wobbly voice, Danny is so overwhelmed with love for his extraordinary sister that he finds himself shedding a few more tears.

The next day, they discover that taking a newborn home on Halloween is not ideal, as the constant knocking on the door doesn’t make for a particularly peaceful environment, but at least Danny’s parents are there to deal with the trick-or-treaters. Since babies younger than seven days old cannot fly without a doctor’s approval, and in any case they feel it would be beneficial to have more time to bond with Freddie before attempting to transport him such a long distance, the plan is to remain in New Jersey until Saturday November 9. This will of course also give all of Danny’s family members a chance to meet the new addition, although they have to arrange a visiting schedule so everyone doesn’t show up at once.

Grace and Rachel are thrilled to be introduced to Freddie via Skype, although naturally they’re also looking forward to meeting him in person. Charlie is present for the call too but obviously can’t truly understand the situation.

On November 1, Danny finds it a lot funnier that Grace has toilet papered her own house when it’s Rachel’s rather than his own. When they call to check in with the team, they learn about Max collapsing after performing CPR on the hospital administrator drugged with scopolamine. Danny has faith that the team will still catch Dr Ellery without any input from him and Steve.

They’re still in New Jersey when Mary’s adoption of Joan goes through, so she just calls to let them know and says she’ll see them at Thanksgiving. Danny is quite relieved to not have a repeat of that day, and with no disrespect to Joanie, if there are going to be any infants spending the day in the office, they’re definitely starting with their own.

Once again, Steve is annoyingly unaffected by the demands of caring for a newborn. Danny on the other hand quickly begins to feel unbelievably tired, but he still wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. It’s also wonderful to be sharing these early days with his family, although he wishes Grace could be there too.

When the time comes to depart, Danny hugs his parents and sisters tightly and apologizes to his father that they won’t be able to come back for his 60th birthday celebrations. It’s so soon and they need the time to settle in at home before returning to work. His dad just smiles and says that he’d be more disappointed if Danny _did_ show up, as it would mean that he didn’t have his priorities straight. Danny marvels for perhaps the millionth time at how lucky he is to have been born into this family.

Even though they were able to get a direct flight, traveling with a newborn is incredibly stressful. However, Danny finds the amount of attention they’re attracting quite entertaining. Newborns out in public are always a source of interest for many people, but when a guy as striking as Steve is cradling a tiny baby with open devotion, there’s an abundance of exploding ovaries all around.

After the long, exhausting journey, they arrive home to find Rachel, Grace, Charlie and Riley waiting for them. Following the excited introductions, Rachel explains that although Grace had desperately wanted to meet them at the airport, Rachel had convinced her that it would be better to meet Freddie in a quieter place. She offers to stay for the rest of the day and overnight to offer support, which Danny and Steve don’t hesitate to take her up on. Rachel is family so it doesn’t feel like she’s intruding on their bonding time. Besides, it’s important for Rachel to bond with Freddie too, as she has generously offered to care for him alongside Charlie once Danny and Steve both return to work, so the siblings won’t be separated.

That night, after one last check on Grace and Charlie peacefully sleeping in their beds and having said goodnight to Rachel, Danny finds himself perched on the edge of the bed staring down at Freddie in his crib with total amazement. It’s difficult to process how vastly different his life has become from the one he remembers, in a relatively short period of time.

After a few minutes, Steve returns from taking Riley outside for his bathroom break and joins Danny in observing their slumbering infant. A moment later, he wraps one arm around Danny and kisses the top of his head before returning his attention to Freddie. Danny waits a little while before turning towards his husband and drawing him into a sweet, tender kiss. He doesn’t have the energy for anything more than that, but as he silently coaxes Steve into curling up in bed so they can get some sleep of their own, he’s happier than he ever thought possible.


	10. Chapter 10

They spend the next eight days bonding as a family before one of them will have to return to work. It is of course a wonderful but exhausting experience; with three kids and a dog, it’s a delicate balancing act to ensure no one ends up feeling neglected. Grace continues to be an excellent big sister, equally happy to help with Freddie or keep Charlie occupied. Poor Riley appears to be struggling to decide which small child he should be focusing on, although Charlie often wins since he can now call the dog when he wants him, albeit with the completely mangled pronunciation ‘Wywee’. Rachel returns home after that first night, but helpfully brings Grace home from school each day and then stays for a few hours. She seems almost as enamored with Freddie as Steve and Danny are, not that Danny can blame her; he’s a captivating little guy who, if the old baby pictures they dig out are anything to go by, is going to look just like his daddy.

The plan for returning to work is that they will alternate which one of them is home each week until their ten weeks are up. Rachel agrees to temporarily switch custody of Grace and Charlie every two weeks instead of weekly so that it’s not always the same person spending more time with them. Although regardless of who has custody at any given time, they’ll still spend at least a few hours a day with all of them together whenever possible. Steve volunteers to go back to work first, which isn’t much of a surprise; while he clearly adores being a father, he’s still not very good at being out of action for extended periods of time.

Unfortunately for Steve, the governor summons him on his first day back to discuss the fact that Lou has filed a complaint against him. Steve calls Danny in a state of indignant fury while he and Lou are driving separately on the way to serve an arrest warrant on some poor unsuspecting schmuck with unpaid parking tickets. Ian Wright has already been arrested by the FBI so it’s not him. Steve is not at all pleased that Danny doesn’t have a great deal of sympathy for his plight and in fact backs up the governor’s instruction to try harder to get along with Grover. Danny distracts his husband for the rest of the drive by updating him on how his morning is going, being alone with Freddie and Riley while Charlie is with Rachel and Grace is at school.

Once Steve hangs up in order to carry out his unwanted task, Danny calls Rachel and asks her to call Steve in a few minutes to beg him to sing to Charlie. Danny figures that if witnessing Steve lovingly indulging his toddler doesn’t help Lou to see him as more than an arrogant lunatic, then nothing will. Rachel doesn’t even ask why he wants her to carry out this piece of mischief, she just laughs and agrees. Later, Danny learns that Steve only hesitated for a moment before being persuaded to sing ‘Here Comes the Sun’ right in front of Lou and the man they were in the process of arresting. Since the case is more straightforward this time, Steve and Lou don’t get the chance to bond the same way as before, but Danny hopes they’ve at least taken a positive first step.

Time passes by in a happy blur and soon enough Thanksgiving arrives. They skip the traditional football game in favor of spending more time with the kids and there’s no turkey prep disaster as Danny is in charge of the bird. The case involving the dead secret service agent doesn’t happen, so they all get to stay home for the entire day. This also means they don’t get to meet the president, but Danny isn’t too bothered by that. Freddie’s existence is more than adequate compensation and he’s sure Chin would feel the same way about Alana if he knew about the differences between the two timelines.

Their gathered ohana is so large that they barely fit in the house, but Danny wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s particularly nice to see Aunt Deb, who gives them the fantastic news that her tumor has been completely eliminated by radiation therapy with no need for chemo. Seeing Mary and meeting Joan again is also a joy. Joe is present, since Steve was surprisingly quick to forgive him for concealing the truth about Doris. Danny spots Billy watching Catherine with even more admiration than usual as she works her way around the room eagerly seizing every opportunity to hold Freddie, Charlie, Alana or Joan.

Adam is also visiting and seems to be fitting in well, although at one point he appears to get a little overwhelmed and sneaks off outside. Danny decides to follow and after a reasonable amount of small talk, he calmly inquires about Adam’s intentions. Adam informs him that he plans to sell the business in New York and start a new one on Oahu, and while he’s on the island he intends to share this plan with Goro Shioma as a mark of respect and to assure the man that he has no interest in interfering with Yakuza business. Adam is hoping to have everything wrapped up and be living on the island by Christmas. Danny smiles warmly and wishes him luck.

Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Hawaii on December 2. Steve immediately agrees when Danny suggests holding another ceremony on their anniversary in June. Danny quickly informs his family members in Jersey so they can’t complain that they won’t have time to arrange to come to this one.

On Pearl Harbor Day, the team still ends up investigating the 1943 murder of David Toriyama’s father. Danny is grateful that this case isn’t one of the ones that mysteriously fails to occur, as it means that Steve still gets to learn more about his grandfather.

On Christmas Eve, Danny and Grace still take part in the beach cleanup, since it’s important that they spend some time together with just the two of them. Grace still finds the puzzle box, and Danny is able to impress her by opening it instantly. He still intends to enlist Fong to track down the father of the little girl whose picture is in the locket as soon as possible, but they won’t be traveling to Japan to return it in person this time.

It’s Danny’s turn at work, so he still gets the call about the murdered burglar, but it comes from Chin rather than Steve. Try as he might, Danny can’t remember which of the properties on the burglar’s wish list belongs to the serial killer, or the psycho's name, so when splitting up the list he insists they work in pairs, even though they don’t yet have any evidence of how much danger they’re in. Since he works with a bunch of super competitive overgrown children, it turns into a battle of the sexes, with Kono teaming up with Cath and Billy with Chin. It’s the latter pair who end up at Gary Nathan’s home. The nut job still attacks out of desperation when cornered, but is obviously unable to overpower two trained professionals at once. Billy sustains a nasty head injury though and when the rest of the team arrives on the scene, a clearly very concerned Catherine greets him with a kiss. Danny has been wondering, but judging from the stunned look on Billy’s face, they haven’t actually gotten around to officially resuming their romantic relationship until now. In the aftermath, Cath looks a little embarrassed, but soon relaxes after receiving nothing but approving smiles from her teammates.

This encounter with a serial killer abruptly reminds Danny of Madison Gray and soon thereafter, he recalls that Alicia Brown’s daughter Sienna has by now already been held captive for over a year, with her mother believing she is dead. He feels terrible that he hasn’t remembered sooner and racks his brain until he’s able to come up with the name of the man responsible - Benton Jones. He won’t have a moment of peace until he’s dealt with this, but it might be difficult to get any time alone once he gets home, so he stops by Toast’s place to acquire a new secure phone (he swaps them out regularly anyway) and calls the FBI with this vital information, mentioning the connection to Edward Sears to increase the likelihood that they will take the tip seriously.

Danny arrives home to a delightfully merry house. Rachel is already present and will be staying over again this year so they can all enjoy Christmas together. For a moment, Steve is mildly irritated about missing all the excitement at work, but after gazing down at Freddie in his arms, then glancing over at Grace playing with Charlie on the floor, he smiles contentedly. Danny can’t resist the urge to kiss him softly, but is soon interrupted by an excited Charlie calling out “Danno!” and toddling in his direction.

In January, the case involving Lou’s friend Jack Anderson/Mitchell occurs while Steve is the one at work, which is just as well, as it gives him an opportunity to make some more headway in his relationship with Lou, which is slowly getting better but could still use some improvement. 

Meanwhile, Danny still runs into ‘Amber’ at the gas station after dropping Grace off at cheerleading camp. But this time when she approaches, Danny has just removed a fussy Freddie from his car seat and is rocking him into peacefulness. Melissa spends so long cooing over the baby that Danny is fairly confident that the timing will now have changed enough that she won’t be accidentally shot, but he still takes a minute to actually give her useful directions this time. As she’s turning to leave, Danny calls out to stop her and hands her his business card. Melissa frowns down at it uncertainly.

“In case whatever you’re running from ever catches up with you,” Danny tells her seriously.

Melissa gives him a tight smile but pockets the card and walks away, probably giving him more credit than he deserves when it comes to reading people.

The last week of January arrives far too quickly and Danny and Steve both have to be back at work. Dropping Freddie off at Rachel’s is harder than either of them anticipated, but at least they know he’s in good hands.

At the end of the week, Grace still gets called into the principal’s office. Technically Rachel has custody, but Danny thinks it’s fair enough when she calls to ask him to deal with it, given that she’s got her hands full at home. They don’t currently have a case, so he and Steve both go. Just for fun, Danny lets Steve do the talking, and is amused when his reaction is much the same as Danny’s was the first time around, immediately asserting that the kid Grace punched must have had it coming. However, Danny intervenes when Grace claims she has no excuse; with the benefit of superior wisdom, he’s not letting her get away with that again. So he tells Grace that while it’s admirable to not want to rat anyone out, bullies usually have something going on with them to make them act out that way and they need to get help. Grace wavers for a moment before admitting that Lucas was picking on her friend Katie. Principal Fisk looks reluctantly impressed, but says she still has to suspend Grace for resorting to violence, although it’s a slightly shorter sentence of three days.

Rachel blames Danny and Steve for Grace’s behavior, but it’s good-natured ribbing rather than the harsh accusation it might have been in the past. They all agree not to punish their daughter any further, but make her promise that she won’t hit anyone again unless it’s absolutely necessary to defend herself or others from a physical attack rather than just a bit of taunting.

The following week, when they have custody of all three children for the first time since they both returned to work, Danny and Steve decide to take it in turns either driving Grace to school in the Camaro or dropping Charlie and Freddie off at Rachel’s in the truck before meeting at HQ or whatever crime scene they’re headed to. It might not be kind to the environment, but it is the most efficient way to get everyone where they need to be without giving up their beloved car that they can’t all fit into. Besides, Grace appreciates having some regular alone time with her dads, even if it’s just during the commute. At first Danny feels a little ridiculous whenever he’s driving the huge truck but it’s definitely easier than trying to wrestle with car seats in the back of the Camaro.

It’s a few weeks after the fact before Danny realizes that Gabriel never showed up on the island. He can only hope that the guy cares for his sister and niece enough to continue to keep his business well away from them. It’s unfortunate that this means Chin won’t get justice for his father, but at least it won’t cause problems for him and Malia, and has also kept him from being investigated by Internal Affairs again. Danny is immensely curious about whether Malia knows what her brother is up to in Mexico, but figures he’s better off not knowing.

Prior to Valentine’s Day, Rachel offers to keep all three kids for the night, since she’s still not in a serious relationship herself. After a brief moment of hesitation, Danny and Steve take her up on it, but choose to have a quiet, romantic night at home rather than going out. It’s extremely strange having a baby-free house, but refreshing to be able to make love without having to worry about how much noise they’re making. But best of all is the night of uninterrupted sleep, although Danny does still miss Freddie even during this short separation. Steve confesses to feeling the same.

The following day is Saturday, and Alana’s birthday, so there’s a party at Chin and Malia’s place. Kono tries to avoid hijacking the event, but it’s impossible not to notice the large sparkly diamond now adorning her left ring finger. Fortunately the birthday girl is too young to truly understand what all the fuss is about anyway so it doesn’t really matter that Kono and Adam are stealing her thunder. Danny is a little surprised that the engagement has happened so soon, but is overjoyed nonetheless. On reflection, it probably makes sense given that the pair have a lot less baggage this time, not to mention the fact that Adam has already demonstrated his commitment by rearranging his whole life to be with Kono.

Two weeks later, the ruthless reporter Shawn Hutten still decides to come after Lou for the tragic incident that caused him to leave Chicago. By now, Lou at least trusts Steve enough to tell him what happened. When Steve unreservedly offers his support and gets the reporter to back off, it looks like he and Lou might at long last actually be friends now.

The black unicorn case unfolds much the same way as it originally did, although when it’s all over Jerry does not ask if he can stay with them, which is hardly surprising given that the house is full of kids. Since he’s been on Five-0’s payroll for a while now, presumably he can afford to hide out in a hotel. Hopefully he won’t ever end up poking around the champ box, as that could lead to awkward questions. Steve hasn’t told any of their friends the truth about Doris.

When Chin and Jerry start talking about attending their high school reunion, Danny remembers that Laura Richmond is going to die but can’t think of a sensible way to save her. He’s pretty sure HPD won’t be able to get a warrant to dig up the Richmond property based on nothing more than an anonymous tip, and if anything spooks Bradley Richmond he might move the body before anyone can get to it. So Danny goes with the slightly insane plan of visiting Jerry in his basement office and informing him that Danny had a premonition that something terrible is going to happen unless Jerry arrives at the reunion early and stays close to Laura. Naturally Jerry believes him, but he’s somewhat distressed when Danny asks him not to tell anyone about his ‘gift’, especially not Steve, and to never even try to discuss it with Danny ever again. Laura is saved so Jerry’s discomfort and altered opinion of him is a small price to pay, but Danny does worry that his friend might not be able to keep quiet.

It’s a huge relief to not end up buried under a collapsed building, or even just having to try to find a way to avoid that highly unpleasant scenario. It’s amazing really just how many negative experiences they’ve been spared by getting rid of Wo Fat years ago and never having to chase down Doris’s secrets. Even the associated memory of that first I love you from the original timeline, which Danny remembered fondly for years, pales into insignificance compared to the new first that replaced it.

The timing and exact details of the case involving the college students recruited by Al Qaeda changes slightly, but the plot has probably been in the works for so long that it was inevitable that it would occur no matter how drastic Danny’s alterations might be. Of course, Danny doesn’t have PT this time so he’s more involved in the case. He finds it extremely disturbing, possibly because he now has memories of Grace being uncomfortably close to the age of these messed up kids who have ruined their own lives.

June eventually arrives, and with it Steve and Danny’s second anniversary / official wedding. They consider it a technicality and will still be counting from the first date any time they’re asked how long they’ve been married. Still, it’s a terrific day, spent celebrating their continued love for each other in much the same way as the first time, but with more family members present to witness it directly. Danny is particularly pleased to see Eric; maybe this visit will inspire his nephew to move to the island after all.

There’s no trip to Kauai this time, but Freddie spends the night with his grandparents in their hotel room so the ‘newlyweds’ can be alone. Danny is thrilled that he gets to do what he desperately wanted but didn’t have time for two years ago; helping Steve to remove his very fine clothing. It’s obvious that his husband is equally exhilarated that he gets to return the favor. Thankfully, some things never change; the chemistry between them is just as explosive as always.

A couple of weeks later, they’re enjoying a quiet night at home, rather than the poker night that originally took place, when Cath and Billy show up to let them know that they’re planning to go to Afghanistan to try to rescue Amir Khan’s son Najib. They’ve already spoken to Joe directly so they’re not looking for Steve’s help, just keeping him informed. It’s clear that Steve’s first instinct is to offer to accompany them, but one look at Freddie in Danny’s arms is enough to stop him cold.

Danny doesn’t think for one moment that it will stop the determined pair, but knowing what almost happened last time, he has to express his concerns about the safety or lack thereof of them taking on the Taliban alone. Billy explains that someone who owes him a favor might be able to send a couple of guys to meet up with them once they get over there. Danny sincerely hopes that’s the case, or that things somehow go more smoothly regardless. The thought of losing either of them is unacceptable.

But ultimately, there’s nothing he and Steve can do but wish them luck and send them on their way. So far, everything has been going so much better in this new world Danny has created and he can only pray that the positive trend continues and brings Catherine and Billy safely home.


	11. Chapter 11

It’s a tense few days waiting for an update, but eventually Steve and Danny learn that Catherine and Billy did in fact have help when they went to rescue the children, so the outcome was a lot more favorable; while one of their companions was wounded, no one was captured by the Taliban. Just like before, Najib was not among the liberated kids, so Cath and Billy’s mission to find him is ongoing.

Five-0 still gets put on the security detail for the $100 million in ghost money, but this time there’s no Ian Wright around to try to steal it. It’s easy enough to prevent Agent Novak from making his own attempt at theft; Danny simply recommends that the team personally keeps eyes on the money the entire time until it’s safely off the island. While Danny is delighted to have saved Samantha from being kidnapped, this also means that Lou does not get fired from SWAT. But, since they’re shorthanded while Billy and Cath are away, Danny suggests attempting to bring Lou onto Five-0 anyway. Since all of Danny’s previous suggestions about personnel have turned out well, Steve readily agrees. Lou is somewhat hesitant, but agrees to join them on a temporary basis. Hopefully, once he gets to know them all better, he’ll be more inclined to make it permanent.

Danny might not have been around when Steve encountered Eran Dobrian in the original timeline, but any cases involving dead children tend to stick in his mind, plus Steve’s distress after the fact was horribly memorable, so when the date that the first victim was taken is approaching, Danny calls the store owned by Garig Dobrian, warns the man about his son’s twisted interest in children, and tells him to keep a close eye on the bastard. If that doesn’t work, the backup plan is to call HPD with a tip as soon as a child is reported missing. But thankfully that turns out to be unnecessary; a little girl ends up slightly traumatized after witnessing Eran being dragged off at gunpoint when he attempted to take her, but she is otherwise unharmed. Eran is never seen or heard from again. Danny doesn’t know and doesn’t care whether Garig put his son in the ground or under some kind of highly secure house arrest.

A few weeks before she is due to marry Adam in August, approximately one year after they met and six months after their engagement, Kono still decides to honor her mother with a solo trip around the islands, but this time she succeeds without incident. Danny is immensely pleased that since Adam has been clear of the Yakuza all along, Kono hasn’t suffered the same fears and doubts about their relationship. There’s still no sign of Gabriel either, so the wedding day and their honeymoon also pass by joyously uninterrupted.

The team’s annual psychological audit also goes a lot better, although Steve and Danny both get asked a lot of questions about how they cope with balancing their work and their marriage. But apparently they pass with flying colors, as they don’t get called in for therapy. It probably helps that Danny remembers everything he learned the first time and Steve has followed his example, so although like any couple they do sometimes get on each other’s nerves, they’re open and honest with each other and air their grievances rather than allowing anger and resentment to fester. Consequently, thus far their arguments have never escalated into a serious fight. Danny thinks that might not have been the case if Steve had tried to run off to look for Doris or go to Afghanistan with Cath and Billy, so he’s very grateful for his husband’s self-restraint.

For whatever reason, the insane case involving the hijacked drone doesn’t occur. Obviously it’s wonderful that innocent people don’t lose their lives, but what’s most important to Danny is that it means there’s one less bullet hole in Steve.

When Jerry shares his suspicions regarding ‘Thomas Farrow’ running a counterfeiting operation from his bookstore, Danny immediately backs him up this time, so Steve contacts the secret service a little earlier. Of course, they still declare Farrow to be clean, but Danny floats the theory that the guy is using an alias, so Five-0 discovers Corrigan’s true identity months earlier and finds evidence of the counterfeiting operation when they go to arrest him. Everyone is suitably impressed by Danny’s ‘intuition’, although it’s clear from the way Jerry eyes him that he suspects it’s another case of unnatural knowledge.

Danny is exceedingly relieved once he realizes that they’ve made it past the date when Marco Reyes originally showed up. Hopefully, he hasn’t bothered to go after Matty, and Danny won’t end up becoming a murderer again.

Although it’s never easy for any of them when a child gets abducted, and Steve takes it harder now that he’s a parent himself, this time Michael Wiley actually grabs Maggie Porter rather than mistakenly taking Sophie Larkin, so at least they don’t have the added stress of it being a deployed SEAL’s daughter in jeopardy. Fortunately, they’re still able to prevent Jason Hollier from killing Mrs Porter and Maggie is safely returned to her father.

On the anniversary of John McGarrett’s death, Danny is there with Steve when he visits the grave. It’s a Saturday, so for the first time, Grace asks to come along too. After Steve is done talking to his father, Grace steps forward to lay down some flowers and says, “Hi Grandpa, I wish I could have met you,” before proceeding to talk at length about her life and what a great dad Steve is. Steve is hiding behind his sunglasses but squeezes Danny’s hand tightly. They’re all still there when Ellie Clayton approaches, so Danny gets to meet her earlier and help with solving her father’s murder.

In October, Catherine calls to let them know that she and Billy have found Najib but they’re going to stay where they are for a while to protect him and the other kids in the village. Danny hopes that with Billy by her side, and their jobs at Five-0 waiting for them, Cath won’t be recruited into the CIA and the pair will eventually come home.

Danny is a little shocked when Freddie’s first birthday arrives; the time has gone extraordinarily quickly. Soon enough, Freddie will be running around all over the place. Steve and Danny have kept him in their bedroom for much longer than they did with Charlie, mostly to avoid disrupting their older son since the two boys will have to share a room, but Danny decides it really is time to reclaim their space. They wait until the weekend that immediately follows Halloween, then end up enduring a few extremely stressful nights and terrible tantrums until everyone adjusts to the new sleeping arrangements.

One night the following week, Danny wakes an hour or so early from a nightmare that was actually a very vivid memory of seeing Steve injured and heartbreakingly confused after being drugged and tortured by Wo Fat. Danny thinks that the previous day was probably the date on which the incident originally occurred. He reaches out with a trembling hand to gently caress the unbroken skin on Steve’s head in the exact spot where he remembers the graze from the bullet that came perilously close to taking Steve’s life. As his husband obliviously sleeps on, Danny continues to delicately trace his features, noting that there are fewer lines on Steve’s face and less gray hair than what he just saw in his memory. Their lives have certainly been far less stressful, and while he hasn’t really considered it before, Danny suspects he is probably also aging a little better. He decides this deserves a celebration and selfishly kisses Steve awake. Luckily, his husband doesn’t seem to mind.

A little under two weeks later, Aunt Deb arrives on the island with Leonard and announces that they’re getting married the next day. When her cancer was successfully eradicated, Danny had worried that the pair might not meet, but apparently Deb continued to attend the cancer support group to be there for her new friends and to discuss her fear that the cancer might return. Things proceed pretty much the same as Danny recalls except for the fact that Deb is eager to spend as much time as possible with the kids while she’s visiting. It’s wonderful to see her so happy but sad to know it will be relatively short-lived.

At Thanksgiving, Kono and Adam reveal that they’re expecting a baby in June, promptly receiving warm congratulations from their gathered ohana. Just when it seems like things couldn’t get any better, there’s another welcome surprise in the form of Catherine and Billy unexpectedly arriving and informing everyone that they’re getting married in three weeks’ time. The short timescale raises a few eyebrows, as does the fact that Cath is avoiding alcohol, but the pair admit to nothing and no one challenges them, although there are knowing smiles all around. Given that the newly engaged couple have just returned from Afghanistan and have a lot of preparations to take care of, they don’t intend to return to work until January.

Three weeks later, Danny is beginning to believe that he might get to see all of his friends leading happier lives, when Joe shows up to Billy and Catherine’s wedding with his first wife, Linda, who he apparently ran into completely by chance while she was vacationing on the island. They’re hopeful that they can make their relationship work now that they’re older and wiser.

Rachel on the other hand says she has given up on the idea of entering into another committed relationship, claiming that with two divorces already under her belt, she has come to the conclusion that she might not be cut out for marriage. For a few months now, she has been in a casual and open relationship with a guy who she only ever sees when she doesn’t have the kids. Danny is a bit baffled by the whole thing and hopes that maybe someday Rachel will change her mind and find someone to grow old with, but for the time being she appears to be genuinely content with her current arrangement, so it’s not really his place to judge.

As Max and Sabrina are still going strong, and Kamekona seems to get all the fulfillment he needs from his expanding business empire, that just leaves Jerry, but Danny isn’t too concerned about him yet; Jerry is such a unique individual that maybe it’ll take a while for the universe to find the right person to put in his path.

At Christmas, thankfully there’s no need to illegally cut down a tree this time, since Steve dragged Danny out to buy one at a much earlier stage. As per their now firmly established tradition, Rachel joins the McGarrett-Williams household for Christmas Eve and the whole of Christmas Day. Some time around noon, Billy and Cath decide to add to the merriment of the holiday by texting everyone to finally confirm that there will be a new addition to their family in July.

During the first week of January, with Kono and Catherine both already restricted to light duty, and having now had time to bond with the team, Lou officially becomes a permanent member of Five-0.

Charlie’s third birthday rolls around a couple of weeks later. Since he has now been raised differently, he is developing into a louder, more outgoing child than the one Danny originally got to know later this same year. Now that that time is drawing near, Danny intends to be more vigilant than ever when it comes to monitoring his son for any sign of HLH. If they can do the bone marrow transplant sooner, it should minimize Charlie’s suffering.

When Grace receives what is now her second president’s physical fitness medal, because of course she also did better the previous year having had the opportunity to train with Steve earlier, Danny realizes that events have proceeded differently enough that Nahele did not end up stealing Steve’s car. He takes Riley for a walk through the homeless encampment where the kid was found last time but he’s not there. It’s rare these days to ever get any time alone in the office, so Danny sneaks in at the weekend when he’s supposed to be grocery shopping and finds a Family Services record for Nahele. It turns out he was placed with a foster family a few months earlier and has apparently not felt the need to run away from this one. Something about the name of the family seems familiar, so Danny digs a little deeper and discovers that the foster father is one of the cops he has saved along the way, who is now retired and providing a home for Nahele and one other orphaned teen.

It seems like a good situation, but just to be sure, Danny finds the time to drop by the house one afternoon a few days later and parks across the street. Nahele and his foster sister, who is a couple of years younger, arrive home from school maybe ten minutes later, both looking healthy and cheerful. Although it’s a little sad that Nahele won’t be joining the Five-0 ohana, Danny is satisfied that the kid is happy where he is, and that’s really all that matters. He hopes that by the time Nahele’s father is released from prison, the boy will trust his foster family enough to confide in them and prevent the man from obtaining custody.

Since Joe is still with the Navy rather than doing private security, Steve does not get involved in the operation to transport the patient with lethal bird flu to Tripler, so mercifully he doesn’t get hit with a wrecking ball and end up in the hospital. In fact, that ridiculous scenario and the entire terrorist plot to weaponize the virus don’t occur at all. Perhaps the DHS server had tougher security this time.

One thing that does still happen is the technical hiccup resulting in Danny receiving all of Grace’s texts the day before Valentine’s Day. But this time, he leads by example when it comes to maintaining trust between them and tells her what’s going on. This quickly leads to blissful silence from his phone and he’s quite amused by the thought that the boy is now going to have to actually talk to his daughter without the aid of technology. When the time comes, Grace tells the truth about wanting to meet the boy for ice cream, although she’s clearly a little nervous and embarrassed. She and Steve both seem astonished but pleased when Danny calmly tells her to go have fun.

Meanwhile, the team still comes across the Congolese warlord Roko Makoni, but Danny ‘cheats’ and ensures that before they move on the apartment, they have some guys positioned in the direction Makoni is going to run. Consequently, he’s captured much sooner, saving an innocent family from a great deal of trauma and Danny from the stress of Steve putting himself in harm’s way in a more extreme way than usual.

Just two days after Alana’s second birthday, Chin and Malia joyfully announce that she’ll be joined by a sibling in late August. The following day, Catherine’s second sonogram reveals a previously hidden twin. Although he is of course overjoyed for all of his friends, Danny is also beginning to find the Five-0 baby boom hilarious in a mind-blowing kind of way.

When two people are killed in an arson attack on a boarded up house, Danny immediately realizes who is responsible, even though he was away with Melissa when this case came up last time. He calls in a tip to direct the investigation towards Jason Duclair sooner, thus saving the second set of victims. Duclair dies in the attempt to apprehend him, which will certainly prevent a lot of trouble down the line.

Speaking of Melissa, she calls Danny in a state of total panic, having locked herself in a bathroom at her workplace when her husband came looking for her. With so many witnesses around, the guy is keeping a tight rein on his temper and has somehow charmed her colleagues into believing that he’s the reasonable one and Melissa is unstable. She’s been burned in the past by calling the police only to find the officers taking her husband’s side, which is why she called Danny rather than 911; despite the brevity of their interaction, she instinctively trusts him. Steve is initially dumbfounded but more than willing to oblige when Danny asks him if he wants to go hang a guy off a roof. But as enjoyable as that is, it doesn’t definitively solve the problem, so Steve calls in a favor and gets the asshole’s green card revoked. They personally escort him onto the aircraft when he’s being deported. Melissa can’t face her colleagues anymore, so she decides she wants another fresh start and moves to California. Danny wishes her well.

During the first week of March, Danny is looking forward to going to Grace’s school for career day without being arrested in front of her, but on the morning in question he discovers Charlie still curled up in his bed at a time when he would normally be up and running around. The poor little guy has a fever and a skin rash, so Danny makes an urgent appointment with the pediatrician and asks Steve to take his place at Grace’s school. Rachel is expecting to have both Charlie and Freddie for the day as usual, so she meets Danny and the boys at the doctor’s office.

As expected, the doctor assumes that Charlie just has a routine childhood illness, although the fact that Freddie isn’t sick too would appear to rule out some of the highly contagious ones. When Danny demands that Charlie be tested for HLH, it’s clear that the doctor thinks he’s just another hysterical, overreacting parent who has spent too much time looking up illnesses online, although obviously she doesn’t actually say that. She does however advise them that HLH is extremely rare and therefore incredibly unlikely. Danny knows that the fact that it’s often mistaken for other things is why it usually takes months to diagnose. Once she realizes that he’s not going to back down, the doctor agrees to order the necessary tests. Rachel doesn’t seem to know what to think of Danny’s absolute certainty that Charlie is suffering from something serious.

It takes a week for the results to come back. Danny, Steve and Rachel are all present to hear the official diagnosis of HLH. Even though Danny knew it was coming, and also knows that Charlie will ultimately be fine, it still isn’t easy to hear that your child has a potentially fatal condition. It feels bizarre for Danny to seemingly be the stoic one; Rachel is in tears and Steve looks like he might throw up or pass out. Grace is out in the waiting room with the boys, so even though Danny knows it’s pointless, they’re able to get her blood taken immediately, along with Danny’s and Rachel’s, to check whether any of them are a suitable match for Charlie. Steve insists on being tested too, just in case. Charlie’s doctor doesn’t pass comment on this, probably picking up on Steve’s desperate need to be doing something in the face of the hideous feeling of total helplessness.

Rachel has Grace and Charlie that night, but Steve still has to put on a brave facade for Freddie. However, he doesn’t come back after going upstairs to put their youngest son to bed, and Danny finds him sitting on the floor outside the boys’ bedroom, silently crying. His position suggests that his legs just gave out and he slid down the wall. Danny quickly drops down beside his distraught husband and wraps his arms around him.

Several minutes pass before Steve composes himself enough to ask, “How are you so calm?”

Danny sighs. “I can’t explain it to you babe, but I know that Charlie’s going to be okay. It’s not just wishful thinking or whatever, I _know_ it. You need to try to believe it too.”

Steve pulls away enough to stare at Danny for a while before closing his eyes and taking several slow, deep breaths. When he opens them again, there’s no longer any trace of fear, just steely determination and maybe a hint of awe. “I love you,” he murmurs.

“I love you too,” Danny replies earnestly. After a brief pause, he switches to a lighter tone to say, “Come on, we’re too old to be sitting on the floor.”

Predictably, Steve is quick to object, “We’re not old.”

Sensing an opportunity to thoroughly distract them both, Danny issues the challenge, “Prove it.”

Steve growls and kisses Danny roughly before leaping to his feet and hauling Danny up too. Danny’s head is still swimming from the speed of the motion when Steve lifts him over his shoulder while he’s unable to resist, not that he would do any such thing at the moment. Less than a minute later, Danny finds himself being thrown onto their bed. Steve swiftly drops down on top of him and initiates another intensely passionate kiss.

Quite some time later, a happily worn out Danny briefly struggles against the lure of sleep in order to study Steve’s currently lax and untroubled face. Even knowing that it will all turn out well, it’s going to be tough watching Charlie fighting to recover after the transplant, but Danny is immeasurably grateful that he and Steve will be there to support each other every step of the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding Eran Dobrian... I'm assuming that the huge stack of polaroids consisted of a lot of pictures of the same few children, certainly no more than three or four, since it's ridiculous to suggest that dozens of children could go missing from a single neighborhood on a small island without a major investigation already being underway!


	12. Chapter 12

They get the blood test results the following day and while it turns out that Steve is actually a reasonable match for Charlie, which isn’t that much of a surprise to Danny given that he and Steve are a tissue match for each other, Danny is still the best candidate for bone marrow donation. The procedure is scheduled for the following week, although Charlie has to be admitted to hospital immediately in order to prepare for the transplant. Now that there’s a treatment plan in place and the doctor is optimistic about Charlie’s chances, it’s much easier for everyone to deal with the situation.

Nonetheless, it’s a difficult few weeks, visiting Charlie as often as possible while still going to work and spending time with Grace and Freddie, who aren’t allowed to visit their brother at first while his immune system is compromised. Danny’s part in the process is brief and relatively painless; seeing Charlie so miserable and unwell is the really hard part. Freddie is also not a happy child, with his usual routine disrupted by being separated from his brother and going to daycare while Rachel spends her days in the hospital. Both boys require so much comfort that Steve frequently ends up hoarse from all the singing he’s doing. Danny loves him more fiercely than ever.

Thankfully, the worst is over after those first few weeks, although Charlie still needs to remain in the hospital for careful monitoring for a while yet. But now that he’s feeling more himself and can have more visitors, he seems to be enjoying the attention.

Meanwhile, one day in late March, Lou mentions that his friends Clay and Diane Maxwell will soon be visiting Hawaii to celebrate their anniversary. The first chance he gets, Danny calls Chicago PD and informs Internal Affairs about the stolen money from the stash house that is hidden in the old car in Clay’s garage. Clay gets arrested and Diane’s life as she knows it is over, but at least she’s alive.

Charlie is finally released from the hospital during the first week of May. It feels amazing to be able to return to their normal routine, with three happy, healthy children. Or at least two happy children and one well on her way to becoming a moody teenager.

Soon enough, it’s June and Danny and Steve’s third anniversary. After all the stress they’ve recently endured, they’re content to celebrate with nothing more than a nice dinner followed by a night alone at home.

Two days later, Kono goes into labor on her due date, but her little one still hasn’t arrived the following day when Cath’s labor starts four weeks early. In the end, Kono and Adam’s son Haru is delivered late in the day on June 12, and Catherine and Billy’s identical twin girls Elizabeth and Judith arrive on June 13. There’s a terrifying moment a few hours later when Cath is rushed off to surgery following a severe postpartum hemorrhage, and it’s touch and go for a while, but eventually she pulls through, to the immense relief of the entire Five-0 ohana.

Unsurprisingly, Kono and Haru are released from the hospital a lot earlier than Cath, Libby and Judy. Every member of the ohana is of course always ready to help out both sets of new parents any way they can, but Billy and Cath are in particular need of support. For the first few weeks after they finally get home, everyone takes it in turns to check on them after work, but it’s usually Steve who receives the panicked phone calls at all hours any time Billy is freaking out. It’s quite surreal to realize that after Lou and Danny, Steve is now the most experienced parent on the team, but Danny greatly enjoys watching him confidently giving out childcare advice and reassuring his fellow SEAL.

The weeks pass by quickly until suddenly it’s the last week of August, and there’s another new addition to the ohana; Chin and Malia’s son Alika. Two weeks later, with Kono, Billy and Chin all back at work, it’s farcical how often the topic of conversation around the office turns to babies. Poor Jerry is clearly beginning to feel a bit left out.

On a more serious note, Danny suddenly realizes with just one day to go that the nut job Josh Bennett is planning to steal a nuke in North Dakota, so he calls the DoD to warn them. Initially there’s no way to know for sure that the crisis has been averted, but Danny assumes that no news is good news.

Nothing else particularly noteworthy occurs until Eric arrives to start his new job at the crime lab. Danny remembers with amusement Steve’s suggestion to rent a separate apartment for his nephew, which he doesn’t repeat this time around. Eric might be an irritating idiot sometimes, but he’s great with his little cousins so he’s more than welcome to crash on the couch, at least for a while.

As Danny contemplates his memories of the original timeline, he realizes that much of what he recalls of the near future won’t happen now; Gabriel isn’t around to cause incessant mayhem, Adam shouldn’t end up in prison for murder, and since Robert Coughlin has no reason to come after Five-0 they won’t meet Abby.

In mid October, the team still participates in the Tough Mudder. Although she probably is fit enough, Kono has chosen to sit it out, but they still have a team of four thanks to Billy’s presence. Cath has only just returned to work after her difficult recovery, so obviously she’s not taking part either. Determined not to be viewed as the weak link again, Danny has been training hard for months and is a lot stronger this time since his bone marrow donation took place much earlier. He cooperates with Max and Lou’s sadistic ‘training’ without complaint.

On the day of the event, Danny is a little disgruntled due to the fact that the obstacles clearly were not designed for those who are below average height, so he’s pretty sure he’s having to work twice as hard as his taller teammates, but he keeps this thought to himself. Thankfully, this time he’s able to cross the finish line under his own power rather than being practically carried across. It’s embarrassing to admit, but the reason he injured himself last time was that he was so busy ogling Steve that he wasn’t paying enough attention to what he was doing with his own body. Since he now gets to experience Steve naked on a regular basis, it’s a lot easier to avoid becoming dangerously distracted by his physical prowess as he tackles the obstacles. Tough Mudder isn’t a competitive event, but Danny is still quietly proud that they’ve completed the course much quicker. In fact, the whole experience is far more enjoyable; even getting cleaned up is fun rather than onerous now that he doesn’t have to shower alone.

A week before the date in question, Grace takes advantage of a rare moment where she’s alone with her dads to ask whether she can attend a Halloween party. While Danny is extremely pleased that she has asked this time, she becomes a lot more cagey when he requests further details of the event. Once it becomes clear that it’s a high school senior’s party on the other side of the island and that no parents will be present, Danny has no choice but to refuse.

Grace turns her best kicked puppy look on Steve, while making a plaintive appeal, “Daddy…”

“Sorry kiddo,” Steve responds swiftly. “I’m with Danno on this one.”

Their daughter’s sulk is epic as she complains, “It’s not fair! I’m not a little kid anymore!”

“We know you’re not,” Danny acknowledges. “But you also still have a long way to go before you’re an adult, and it’s our job to protect you from things you’re not ready for.”

Grace continues to pout and look mutinous.

Danny sighs. “Despite what you might think, we’re not trying to stop you from having fun. If you can find a different party, one with kids your own age and a responsible adult who I can speak to ahead of time, we’ll happily agree for you to go to that one.”

Grace considers this for a moment before giving them a tentative smile. “Okay. I’ll talk to my friends and get back to you.”

“Grace,” Danny calls out to stop her as she starts heading for her room. “Please don’t think you can get away with leaving one party to head to the other. I promise you, if you ever lie about your whereabouts and we have to come looking for you, you won’t like the results. Hell, if we’re too busy at work, maybe we’ll send Uncle Joe and an entire SEAL team to retrieve you.”

Grace looks suitably horrified. “Okay Danno,” she says meekly.

Steve waits until Grace is safely out of earshot before he laughs. “I can’t believe you threatened her with a SEAL team.”

Danny smirks. “What, you don’t think Joe would do it?”

“Oh, he definitely would. But you don’t think that might be overkill?”

“Steven,” Danny says seriously, “do you remember being a teenage boy?”

Steve frowns and unconsciously glances in the direction of Grace’s room before replying, “Good point. There’s no such thing as overkill.”

Danny grins and leans over for a quick kiss before heading out back to check whether Eric is coping with being in charge of two small kids and a dog.

Very late in the day on October 30, fortunately long after Freddie’s birthday celebrations are over, they still get the call about the bodies found in suitcases. Danny feels a little bad about it, but since his involvement in the case was minimal last time due to Grace’s misbehavior, he couldn’t recall the details of ‘Dr Frankenstein’s’ identity ahead of time, and it wouldn’t have done any good to call in a tip with nothing more than the vague information that a serial killer might be targeting women at the airport. Steve responds to the call immediately while Danny stays at home until he’s able to drop the kids off with Rachel first thing in the morning. Grace actually attends the new, more appropriate party she chose instead of the one on the North Shore, so he doesn’t have to abandon the team in the middle of the investigation. Danny feels as though missing out on trick-or-treating with Charlie and Freddie is his penance for failing to save the victims. But Rachel sends a lot of pictures and Danny and Steve manage to have a quick video chat with the boys during a quiet moment, which is better than nothing.

In November, Danny still gets the dubious pleasure of going undercover with Eric to solve the murder of Professor Thomas. As there’s just the one victim, he lets things play out as they did before. Although this time he learns that Steve has a thing for his Professor Jeffries glasses, which is quite entertaining.

Their traditional Thanksgiving gathering truly is ridiculously enormous and chaotic with so many babies and children everywhere, but it’s all the more wonderful because of it. Although it’s also less eventful than the previous year in that there aren’t any surprise announcements of further pregnancies or impending marriages.

Things take a bit of a grim turn during the first week of December when Ellie gets in touch to ask for Five-0’s help tracking down her friend Lynn, who hasn’t returned from a snorkeling date on one of the Northwestern Islands. If Danny remembers correctly, it’s about four weeks later than the original date with Steve, which he had up until this point completely forgotten about. The first time around he had been so focused on his newly complicated family life that the outlandish tale of encountering a supposedly dead mob boss barely registered on his radar once he was assured that Steve was still in one piece.

Danny is greatly regretting his self-absorption now, and when his worst fears are confirmed by the discovery of Lynn and her date both shot dead, it’s such an awful shock to see her like that that he feels dizzy and has to grab the nearest person for support. This turns out to be Billy, which is a blessing, as the very fact that the man is standing there alive and well, with concern in his eyes as he asks whether Danny is okay, is a much needed reminder that Danny has saved a lot of people. With some difficulty, he pushes his horror aside, lets go of Billy, and tells his friend that Lynn looks like someone he used to know.

During the subsequent thorough search of the island, they find the plane but naturally Dennis Logan is long gone. Steve calls the FBI and in due course Five-0 assists with a massive manhunt covering all the other small islands until they find the bastard. Danny takes two shots in the vest before his teammates put Logan down with extreme prejudice. Steve looks petrified when he arrives at Danny’s side, until he’s able to verify that his husband has no serious injuries, just some colorful bruises and a cracked rib.

Initially, Danny thinks he probably deserves the discomfort, but once he’s had more time to reflect on the matter, he realizes he’s being too hard on himself. While the untimely loss of Lynn is certainly tragic, ten years’ worth of memories of monstrous crimes and evil criminals is a lot to keep track of, and by this point Danny has lived through a further four and a half years on top of that. Maybe someone with an eidetic memory could have done better, but Danny can’t change who he is, and he’s doing the best he can. Now he just needs to keep reminding himself that one unfortunate incident can’t erase all the good he has done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, this got unexpectedly dark on me. I hope no one was overly attached to Lynn!


	13. Chapter 13

By the time Christmas arrives, Danny has recovered enough that he’s able to enjoy this special time with his perfect family without feeling guilty about it. The phase where Charlie and Freddie will be young enough to be completely enchanted by the magic of the holiday won’t last forever, so he can’t afford to waste a moment being sidetracked by regrets. It turns out to be another fantastic festive season in the McGarrett-Williams home, with Eric a welcome addition this year. Since he’s still on the couch, Rachel bunks with Grace. 

Two weeks later, as they’re not attending couples therapy at the luxury resort on Maui this time, Danny and Steve are around to help support Kamekona in the immediate aftermath of his betrayal by his brother Kanoa. While Danny is grateful that they get to be there for their friend, he’s a little distracted by his memories of how messed up his relationship with Steve originally was at this point. He thinks that the anguish of suppressing their true feelings was at least partly to blame for the way they started lashing out at each other with increasing frequency and viciousness as time went by. Although they ultimately moved past it, never going through it at all is unquestionably preferable.

This period of reflection inspires Danny to book four days at the resort for their anniversary in June. It’s exorbitantly expensive but the hell with it, four years of wedded bliss certainly calls for a celebration. Danny arranges the time off with the team and the governor but swears everyone to secrecy so he can surprise Steve with the trip.

Sadly, Leonard still passes away at the same time as before, so Aunt Deb, Mary and Joanie arrive on the island during the second week of January. There’s not such a hurry to complete the bucket list this time, but to spare Steve from the anxiety, Danny takes Deb out in the Camaro to accomplish the driving a police car really fast item. In an unexpected but wonderful turn of events, Deb announces that she has decided she wants to spend her remaining years in paradise, so she is moving to Oahu and has persuaded Mary to come and live with her too. Danny is delighted that the McGarrett family will now become closer than ever, and that he and his children get to be part of that.

A week before Valentine’s Day, Danny helpfully reminds his colleagues that it’s coming up. This is of course mainly aimed at Lou but he doesn’t want the man to wonder why Danny would single him out. Thanks to the drastically different circumstances of their lives, they all have much more positive experiences when the day arrives. Jerry still has his first date with Meredith a couple of days later. Danny isn’t sure what went wrong with them last time, but she seems like a good match for Jerry, so he hopes maybe things will turn out differently.

For whatever reason, when Five-0 enlists Sang Min to help go after the human traffickers, the timing of James Lam’s murder changes, so he’s already long dead when Sang Min goes to meet with him. This means that although the op is a bust, Sang Min does not end up on trial for murder, which is just as well, as Danny belatedly realizes that they’ve never actually met Odell. As time has progressed, more and more cases from the original timeline haven’t happened and it’s not easy to register the absence of an event unless it was something particularly memorable.

Sometimes even with previously major incidents, it takes a while for it to occur to Danny that they haven’t taken place. It’s weeks later before he realizes that they have avoided the insane case involving the stolen NSA files and the subsequent massive shootout with the Russians and the gassing of the palace. Danny has given up trying to figure out why things are different, he’s just happy any time it results in a less stressful time at work.

The family outing for huli huli chicken also ends up being a lot less stressful; with Steve and Freddie now also present, they take the truck rather than the Camaro and apparently it’s not such an attractive target for thieves. Danny cringes as he thinks back to the way things went the first time; it certainly wasn’t his finest moment, failing to report his missing police vehicle with his weapon in the back, just because he didn’t want to give Steve any more ammunition to use against him. He pushes these negative thoughts aside so he can savor this much more pleasant version of events. Grace still pouts about being separated from her phone, but otherwise it’s a great day.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team handles the case involving the slave ship and the human trafficker Graham Clark. Danny is definitely enjoying the benefits of the team being larger; time away from work is much better with his husband by his side. This includes chaperoning Grace’s cheerleading team to the competition in Vegas. Thankfully, the Grover family doesn’t have to go on the run this time, as Clay Maxwell has no reason to send the Philly Black Mafia after them. Although no doubt if the danger had still occurred, the presence of Billy and Cath would have compensated for Steve’s absence.

Eric finally moves out during April. His new apartment is a bit of a rat trap but he seems to be satisfied just having a place of his own for the first time. Danny is surprised to find himself missing his nephew, although he still drops by fairly regularly.

The next case that Danny recognizes is the one involving the abducted babysitter Addison Wells. Working with Toast is always an interesting experience; the man is not at all comfortable with keeping secrets, so he gets incredibly nervous around Steve. Amusingly, Danny was able to allay his husband’s suspicions about Toast’s odd behavior years ago by suggesting that Toast has a crush on Steve, although Steve immediately countered this with his own theory that Toast is attracted to Danny and therefore terrified of Steve. The important part is that Steve mostly keeps his distance from Toast and Danny’s secret remains intact. When the case is over, Jerry is the only one who goes with Toast to LA, since everyone else has at least one child to get home to.

Fortuitously, there’s no deadly meth epidemic on the island this time; clearly something has changed enough in the leadership of the criminal underworld to make the bad guys aware that killing off a high percentage of your customers is not a good business model. Words cannot express how relieved Danny is to have avoided a repeat of one of the most horrendous experiences of his life, without even having to intervene.

However, once again, he finds himself plagued by his memories of the original event shortly after the time it was due to occur, jolting awake at some ungodly hour with the harrowing images of Steve on the verge of death still assaulting his mind. He fights to control his gasping and violent shaking so he won’t disturb his husband, but without much success. Eventually, Danny resorts to gently rolling Steve onto his back then snuggling up against him with his ear pressed to his husband’s chest to listen to the comforting thud of his heart. Without consciously thinking about it, he repeatedly runs his fingers over the smooth skin of Steve’s abdomen where the transplant scar used to be. While Danny would gladly give up as many pieces of himself as necessary to keep Steve alive, he’s ecstatic that they’ve both been spared the trauma on this occasion.

After a few minutes, Steve stirs and covers Danny’s restless hand with his own to halt the continuous motion, while wrapping his other arm around Danny and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Are you okay?” he asks, voice sleepy but unmistakably concerned.

“Mmm,” Danny responds noncommittally.

“Bad dream?”

“The worst,” he confirms with a shudder. He pauses momentarily before elaborating, “You were shot multiple times and bleeding out right in front of me. Before passing out, you told me you were going to die.”

Steve tightens his grip on Danny. “I’m right here and I’m fine. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Danny sighs. “I’m not sure I can go back to sleep.”

“Okay.” Steve’s tone is all false innocence as he continues, “Got any other ideas to pass the time?”

“Maybe,” Danny replies with exaggerated thoughtfulness, letting it hang for a long moment before sliding his hand a little further down Steve’s body while simultaneously moving to give him a filthy kiss.

Much later, after giving his magnificent husband one last tender kiss as they cuddle up together, Danny’s final joyously exhausted thought while he’s drifting off is that he just might be the luckiest man in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a bit of a short one... I'd forgotten how truly appalling the writing was for much of season 6 and I needed to purge it from my system ASAP. Fair warning: I've got stuff going on irl that might delay the next chapters, although only time will tell...


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, the H50 timeline is frequently a total mess... the writers often seem to forget about the gap in between seasons, and it always bugs me any time any of the characters say "it's been x years" when in fact as it is season x, it's x - 1 years! But perhaps the worst inconsistency is the confirmation during season 7 that Grace and Will are in 9th grade... and yet somehow they graduate at the end of season 9... I guess their fancy school offers an accelerated program XD

The next day, Steve asks Danny how he wants to celebrate their anniversary, which is now just under four weeks away. Danny confesses that he has already arranged a trip, but refuses to divulge any further details, despite Steve’s increasingly creative attempts to extract the information. Eventually of course Steve resorts to an abuse of power and tries to run Danny’s financials in an attempt to find his secret credit card, but Danny anticipated this months ago and asked Chin to put a block on the system to prevent it. Steve scowls and declares this an act of mutiny, but before too long he can no longer hold back an amused smile, revealing that he is reluctantly impressed by his defeat.

When they finally arrive at the resort, the look of wide-eyed wonder on Steve’s face is immensely gratifying. Danny cheerfully allows Steve to choose their activities each day from the myriad the resort has on offer; he’s definitely not as excited about the likes of golf or paddleboarding as his husband is, but he really doesn’t care what they do as long as they’re spending time alone together. Hilariously, they get asked by quite a lot of people if they’re honeymooning. Apparently no one expects a couple who have been married for years to still be barely able to keep their eyes and hands off each other. As amazing as it is in terms of the effects on their skin, the artisanal soap can’t be entirely blamed for the excessive amount of touching that’s taking place.

Time passes by incredibly quickly in a whirl of busy days, fantastic food, and gloriously steamy nights. Danny thoroughly enjoys every second. As much as he loves and adores their children, it’s something of a relief to just be Danny and Steve for a while rather than Danno and Daddy. Still, being reunited with their kids and dog is without question the best thing about returning home to Oahu.

It takes some time for Danny to realize that Max’s sabbatical with Doctors Without Borders hasn’t begun as per the expected schedule. He’s greatly pleased to learn that Max and Sabrina decided to delay in order to get married before leaving, thus allowing their ohana to witness the happy event. Meeting Noelani again shortly before Max and Sabrina leave is also wonderful.

A few weeks later, Steve and Billy depart for their two weeks of reserve training. During the evenings and weekends, Catherine frequently drops by with the twins so she and Danny can keep each other company and commiserate about their crazy but heroic husbands. They’re hanging out on the Saturday before their SEALs are due to return when Kono suddenly walks in the door without knocking, flops down on the couch, then steals Danny’s half finished beer and downs the rest of it in one go. Danny is currently entertaining the twins, so it’s Cath who silently gets up to fetch more beer.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Cath asks when she returns.

Kono sighs deeply. “Adam and I had a fight.”

Danny and Cath both remain quiet and wait for her to elaborate.

“He wants to have another baby. But he’s not the one who has to actually carry it for nine months and endure the agony of childbirth, not to mention being sidelined at work. Don’t get me wrong, I love Haru with all my heart and I wouldn’t give him up for anything, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being an only child.”

Cath frowns. “I have the opposite problem. I’m not ready yet, but I’d like to have another baby someday. Billy is totally against it. He says it’s not worth risking my life again.”

“To be fair, you did almost die last time,” Danny comments.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it would happen again. Besides, it’s my risk to take.”

“That’s true,” Danny acknowledges. “Except it’s Billy who would end up a single father if it did go horribly wrong. It’s understandable for him to be scared. The guy loves you.”

Cath huffs in frustration. “I love him too, which is why I desperately want the chance to have a tiny, adorable version of him running around the house.”

Danny follows Cath’s gaze to where Freddie is sitting on the floor playing with Riley. He’s almost an exact replica of Steve, except for his somewhat lighter hair and bright blue eyes. So, yeah, Danny gets it.

Kono chuckles as she asks, “How many girls are you willing to have while trying for your boy?”

Cath laughs too. “Obviously I know that could happen, but it’s not like I would love another daughter any less.”

Danny smiles and advises, “Give Billy some time. I’m sure you’ll be able to talk him round eventually.”

“I don’t know,” Cath says sadly. “He seemed pretty serious about it. He was talking about getting a vasectomy.”

“Oh,” Danny responds dumbly.

“Men are so infuriating!” Kono asserts, directing a challenging stare at Danny but then grinning when he doesn’t try to contradict her. She turns her attention back to Cath. “What we need is a girls’ night. We can drop the twins with Adam… maybe taking care of three babies at once will make him change his mind.”

Cath smirks. “Cruel, but I like it.”

“Awesome.” Kono pulls out her phone. “I’m calling Malia.”

Cath also reaches for her phone while asking Danny, “You’ll take the kids if Rachel wants to come, right?”

Danny doesn’t hesitate. “Sure. Joan too if you want to invite Mary and Deb.”

About an hour later, Danny finds himself home alone with four children. He’s under strict orders not to bail Adam out if he calls, unless it seems like a genuine life-threatening emergency. Miraculously, Grace voluntarily sets her phone aside in favor of playing with the little kids. She never did get that sister she wanted, but her cute cousin is the next best thing. Danny abruptly realizes that he’s never actually asked Steve if he wants more kids. He hopes that his husband would feel able to discuss it with him if he did, but figures it would probably be a good idea to check, just in case.

When Steve arrives home the next night, Freddie is already in bed and Grace and Charlie are back with their mom, so, after taking a moment to greet Riley, Steve’s first priority is dragging Danny upstairs to demonstrate how much he’s missed him. Since Danny definitely can’t resist Steve in any version of his uniform, the important discussion will have to wait.

Eventually, he does find the time to bring the issue up, but begins by inquiring whether Billy has told Steve about his disagreement with Cath.

“The baby thing?” Steve asks.

“Yeah. It seems like it could become a big problem down the road.”

“Don’t worry. I think I talked him out of doing anything drastic. Cath will probably get what she wants in the end.”

“That’s good. Well done babe.” Danny punctuates this with a quick kiss. Then he pauses for a long moment before continuing, “I realized I’ve never asked whether you want any more kids.”

Steve gives him a soft smile. “I don’t _need_ more kids, but I’m open to the idea if it’s something _you_ want.”

Danny matches Steve’s smile. “I’m good right now. But I’ll let you know if I ever change my mind.”

“Great.” Steve grins. “Ditto.”

Just like that, the matter is settled and they can gleefully move on to round two of reconnecting after two weeks apart.

The weeks continue to fly by, so soon enough it’s August and Charlie starts attending prekindergarten. It’s astounding how fast kids grow up. At first, Rachel continues to care for Freddie during the daytime, but as time goes by he gradually starts to spend more of his days with Deb and Joan instead. However, they all make an effort to ensure that Freddie usually still gets to spend time with his siblings after school even when Rachel has custody.

After first remembering about her in December 2013, Danny started periodically checking on Madison Gray, but about seven months ago she moved off the island and disappeared. Without knowing what alias she might be using, it has been impossible for Danny to find her and warn the local authorities wherever she has gone. It’s possible she might still have fixated on Alicia, who returned to Quantico after taking some time to care for her daughter, but Danny has faith that Alicia can look after herself. With Gray gone, Detective Lau is still alive and looking into the other killers, so Danny assumes that they will slip up and be caught in due course. The changes to how events will now unfold should also mean that Steve’s blue truck will get to survive a while longer. As Danny never really liked the silver one, he’s content to let it be.

Five-0’s adventure involving Harry Langford and the Greystone still occurs, although the timing is slightly different. Since he’s not recovering from a liver transplant, Steve is able to win the fight with Harry this time. Once Harry is subdued, Steve raises an eyebrow at Danny when he finds him standing nearby watching rather than trying to help. Danny just smirks, completely unashamed to be caught enjoying the sight of his hot husband wrestling with another attractive man. The case proceeds more or less the same way, so Danny and Steve still get to visit Prague, then travel to Pakistan to help avenge Harry’s wife, before finally going to London to receive their awards from the queen. While they’re there, Amanda insists on taking them out for dinner, which is weird, but they’re not going to say no to a free meal. Harry comes along and asks a lot of questions about the publishing business, so who knows, maybe he’ll end up writing his book sooner. It turns out that Amanda wanted to ask Danny and Steve’s opinions on whether Rachel is truly happy. They gladly reassure her on that front.

In mid October, Grace actually admits it when she starts dating Will, although it’s Steve rather than Danny that she chooses to inform. Steve seems a bit peeved when he breaks the news to his husband, but Danny suspects it’s got less to do with the fact that their little girl is dating and more to do with Steve being jealous that unlike Will, he has never thought of archery as a good date activity. Danny sighs and calls Lou to inform him that he and Renee are off the hook when it comes to driving the kids to the archery range. Unsurprisingly, Grace is distinctly displeased by the thought of her dads crashing her date, but Danny promises they’ll stay as far away as possible and points out that things will probably get so competitive that they won’t be paying much attention to Grace and Will.

Danny’s prediction turns out to be completely accurate; while Grace and Will are participating in a beginners lesson one sunny Saturday morning, he and Steve retreat to the opposite end of the range and almost immediately start trying to outshoot each other. They’ve both done archery before, but not for many years. However, it turns out that Danny’s experience is more extensive, and now that he’s not in a life or death situation, he’s able to take his time and remember everything he was taught, so his aim swiftly improves.

Steve is clearly frustrated at first when Danny starts consistently outperforming him, but eventually he simply gives up in favor of watching Danny with unconcealed lust in his eyes. Danny struggles not to laugh; of course the maniac is turned on by his competence with deadly projectiles. After a few minutes, Danny decides to stop and try to help Steve to improve. His husband is intentionally terrible at following directions, forcing Danny to repeatedly make physical contact to reposition him. Inevitably, they end up making out and are interrupted by Grace texting them a puking emoji. Danny laughs delightedly and gives Steve one last brief kiss before stepping away from him. Will and Grace take a few minutes to show off what they’ve learned before they all head home. Danny suspects there might be further archery dates in his future.

The following week, Five-0 still has to deal with the raid on the gun club and subsequent hostage situation at the Hawaii Supreme Court. Although Danny and Steve are never going to see eye to eye on the Second Amendment, Steve is definitely appreciative of the skillful way Danny is able to talk Kyle Kane down.

On Halloween, Steve and Danny go trick-or-treating with Charlie and Freddie. Chin also takes the evening off. No one else on the team has kids the right age to enjoy the festivities with their parents, so the remaining team members handle the case involving the TV medium and her ‘haunted’ house. Somehow, hearing about the case jogs Danny’s memory of the death cult who commit murder every Halloween. While it’s upsetting that he didn’t remember during any of the previous years, all he can do is deal with it now, so he makes an anonymous call claiming that he was taking a shortcut across the compound and witnessed an injured and tied up person being dragged around in a way that was definitely not part of some Halloween fun. HPD successfully rescues the would-be victim and finds the evidence of the past murders.

In early November, Steve and Freddie accompany Danny this time when he travels to New Jersey to support his parents during and after his father’s surgery. Since they don’t get any urgent communications from Joe, Danny figures that Doris has left Yao Fat to rot at the CIA black site in Morocco, assuming he’s even still there.

Max and Sabrina return from Africa just a little later than they did the first time. Danny knows they won’t be around for long, but his sadness at the prospect of this is tempered by the knowledge that it’s what’s best for Max to be able to live the most fulfilling life possible.

When Grace’s winter formal is approaching, Danny calls in a tip that the terror group Jemaah are intending to target Philippine consulate bodyguard Frank Pine in order to gain access to Consul-General Ramos’s son Jeremy. He doesn’t know if that’s even still true, but figures it’s better to be safe than sorry. Five-0 ends up running surveillance on Pine and when one of the bad guys approaches the man, they’re able to successfully follow him back to the rest of the terrorists and take them down. Consequently, Grace and Will get to simply enjoy the dance with Rachel chaperoning, while Danny and Steve are at home with the boys.

A week later, Jerry’s friend Susie is sadly still shot dead as a result of her investigation into a chemical company and the FBI’s failure to protect her. The difference is that Meredith is also present to witness the tragedy this time. Danny assumes that it has been easier for Jerry to maintain the relationship since he has had his own apartment for years in this new reality rather than living with various members of Five-0 before becoming a couch surfer. This shared traumatic event will almost certainly be the making or breaking of their romance; only time will tell which it will be.

Thankfully, Meredith shows up with Jerry at Thanksgiving, so things appear to still be heading in a positive direction. Joe takes the opportunity to announce that he is finally retiring from the Navy so he and Linda can remarry and go traveling for a while. The wedding is due to take place two weeks before Christmas and they plan to set off after New Year’s Day.

Bridget still shows up in December for her work conference. Steve doesn’t get called away from brunch, so he gets to witness the back touching incident with Spencer for himself. Having observed the interaction, he agrees that there’s good reason to be concerned. After the meal is over, they go into work to check on the team’s progress on the Maggie Reed case. To help speed things along, Danny suggests looking into the Holland family sooner, claiming that he doesn’t buy their story of their son sneaking off into the woods by himself. Later in the day, Danny still goes to speak with Bridget alone, but he’s able to handle the conversation better so his sister doesn’t end up storming off. Bridget comes home with Danny, where Steve and the kids are waiting for them so they can all enjoy some quality family time.

Chin’s birthday proceeds without incident, since the case involving the Diego cartel never happened. In fact, there’s a lot less drug cartel activity on the island in general. Danny wonders whether this is somehow down to Gabriel’s influence. So far, the bastard has managed to stay alive and well in Mexico. Danny can only hope that Gabriel is also making every effort to keep Sara safe.

Christmas is just as magical as Danny has come to expect. It’s just Danny, Steve and Rachel present while the kids are excitedly opening their gifts in the morning, but Deb, Mary, Joan and Eric join them for lunch and stick around for the rest of the day. Danny reflects that ‘the more the merrier’ has never felt more true.

Unfortunately, the case involving the death of the car salesman who helped smuggle uranium onto the island still occurs, and since Danny wasn’t involved last time he can’t think of any way to prevent the radioactive material from ending up missing. There’s absolutely no way he’s letting Steve get exposed to the damn stuff this time though, but that’s a problem for another day.

Max and Sabrina’s leaving party is just as moving as Danny remembers, although this time he actually does have to dance with Steve, not that he’s complaining. Jerry eagerly gives up his somewhat crappy apartment in order to take over Max’s lease, seizing the opportunity to move in with Meredith.

Life goes on, and Five-0 continues to work the craziest cases imaginable, including the murder suspect who flees into the Nation of Hawaii and the resulting highly stressful confrontation with the U.S Marshals, then the Nazi war criminal hiding out at the former leprosy colony on Molokai with his murderous daughter who just happens to be the sheriff.

Danny gets a bit depressed on Valentine’s Day when he remembers how the day originally went and that Lynn is now sadly departed. But the murder case involving the pickup artist conference is an effective distraction during the first part of the day, and it’s impossible to stay miserable in the evening when his handsome husband painstakingly prepares a romantic dinner at home, just like Danny prefers. The kids are with Rachel for the night as is customary on this particular holiday, to allow them to celebrate their love for each other with a little less restraint than is usually required.

As soon as the day arrives when Danny and Steve are due to speak at the HPD Academy, Danny begins to feel anxious as he anticipates what is most likely about to happen, although at least he hasn’t written that troublesome list this time, because he isn’t contemplating retirement, and if he was he would definitely discuss it with Steve, so there’s no embarrassing argument in front of the cadets. Before too long, as he expected, they end up parachuting in to the vicinity of the suspected terrorist training camp in the jungle. But this time, Billy joins them, so now that they have an extra person and they’re also not distracted by any ridiculous squabbling, they don’t get surrounded and captured like morons. Therefore, the three of them are able to pick the terrorists off strategically and quietly and ultimately secure the device without it being triggered. So there’s no radiation poisoning for any of them and Danny is so happy he could cry.

Once again, Steve and Freddie come along when Danny goes to visit Bridget in March. The rest of the team still works the sex trafficking case and Danny and Steve hear from Cath that Kono is struggling to deal with it to a higher degree than the rest of the team. Danny can only pray that the eventual outcome will not be Kono abandoning her husband and son to go off on a crusade.

Since Five-0 has never had any serious run-ins with Goro or Michelle Shioma, there’s no nearly fatal visit to Lanai. This means that Steve does not decide to give Jerry a badge. Danny expects it will most likely happen eventually, but even if it doesn’t, Jerry is still a valued member of the team and since he doesn’t go out in the field that often, it shouldn’t make much of a difference.

Mercifully, when the former military contractors start robbing banks, the timing of the car accident changes just enough that the Pearl Harbor survivor Leonard Patterson is only hospitalized rather than killed. However, Steve still takes a bullet to the vest when they go after Nick Rider, doing nothing for Danny’s blood pressure. But his fortunes improve again later in the day, when Steve is less seriously injured when engaging in hand-to-hand combat with Lee Campbell, thanks to Cath’s timely intervention. Encouraging Steve to make the team larger has definitely proven to be the gift that keeps on giving. During the course of the investigation, Steve still gets in touch with the documentary filmmaker and therefore gets to learn the details of why his grandfather was awarded the Purple Heart.

Completely by chance, this time around Danny sees for himself the news report regarding Makino potentially coming out of his coma. He instantly informs Steve and they arrange a discreet but large protective detail at the assisted living center, so the cartel’s hit squad gets taken out with far less madness and mayhem, for which Danny is very grateful.

Interestingly, there’s no plot to bring down a plane returning a fallen Marine and frame an innocent Muslim professor. Danny has no idea why the rogue faction within the US government would choose to leave the island alone, assuming the faction still exists at all, but he doesn’t really care, as long as it means that neither of his insane SEAL teammates end up free soloing up the outside of a building.

Less happily, since the sex traffickers are still around, there’s no escaping Steve’s next crazy plan to jump onto a moving vehicle from a significant height. Cath looks furious when Billy argues that Steve shouldn’t automatically get to have all the ‘fun’. Danny catches her eye to communicate his sympathy. Steve and Billy end up flipping a coin for the ‘honor’. Steve wins. Danny isn’t sure whether the alternative would have been better or worse; at least he knows that Steve and Jerry are capable of making this work, even if the previous success is not necessarily a guarantee that ‘history’ will repeat itself. He doesn’t even bother trying to talk Steve out of it, opting to use the time for a soft, lingering kiss instead, before murmuring, "I love you,” and sending his beautiful idiot on his way.

When it’s all over, as soon as the girls are all safely out of the trailer, Danny decides that after the massive amount of stress he’s just endured, he’s entitled to throw professionalism out the window, so he grabs Steve for a rough, desperate kiss. By this point, there can’t possibly be anyone at HPD who doesn’t know that they’re married and it’s likely that the traumatized girls won’t even be looking in their direction. In any case, Steve certainly isn’t trying to put a stop to it. However, they force themselves to separate relatively quickly, in the hope that none of their colleagues will feel the need to comment on their behavior.

Kono still reacts to the discovery of the extensive sex trafficking network with anger and dismay, but fortunately she doesn’t go running off to try to deal with it personally. Since Chin has also not been offered a job elsewhere, and Malia and the kids would tie him to the island anyway, it appears that the Five-0 ohana will remain perfectly intact, at least for now, and preferably forever as far as Danny is concerned.


	15. Chapter 15

Four weeks later, Danny and Steve celebrate their fifth anniversary by returning to their honeymoon destination on Kauai for a long weekend. Danny experiences one of those weird time perception paradoxes, where it feels like they’ve been together forever but also somehow like it was just yesterday that they were here as newlyweds. His memories of how awful it was to be in love with Steve but too afraid to act on it feel incredibly distant and fuzzy now, like a half-remembered dream. He easily pushes such thoughts aside so he can thoroughly appreciate this precious time with his husband.

The day after returning home, they attend Haru’s second birthday party. Danny quietly observes Kono and Adam’s interactions and is pleased to note a distinct lack of tension between them. He’s aware that it took a few months for Adam to get his head around the idea that Kono was not only uninterested in having another child at the exact moment he first raised the issue, but is also highly unlikely to ever change her mind in the future. However, after a considerable amount of soul-searching, Adam eventually concluded that maintaining the family he already has is more important than his desire to add to it. It certainly appears that he has successfully made peace with this decision.

The following day is Libby and Judy’s birthday and Danny once again finds himself scrutinizing the demeanor of the proud parents and is satisfied with what he sees. After the initial discussions last year, Cath let the matter drop in order to give Billy time to try to deal with his trauma. It took a very long time for the stubborn SEAL to admit to his wife that he actually would like to have another child, but his fears are holding him back. He started attending therapy just weeks ago, so it might be a while yet before he feels ready to start trying for another baby, but they’re both hopeful that he will get there eventually and Cath seems content to give him as much time as he needs. In fact, in order to try to ensure he doesn’t put too much pressure on himself, Cath has suggested that if in the end Billy can’t ever accept the inherent risks of another pregnancy, they could consider adoption. She’s prepared to give up her dream of having a mini-Billy if that’s what it takes to keep her husband by her side.

A relatively uneventful month goes by before Harry Langford shows up on the island in July, three months earlier than his original visit. It turns out that although he still spent some time traveling the world following his retirement, this time he has indeed written his novel much sooner. Apparently, in exchange for her help getting the book published and promoted, ‘Mandy’ asked Harry to travel to Hawaii to meet Rachel. Danny finds the whole situation hilarious; both the attempted set up and Harry’s insistence on checking with Danny first to make sure he doesn’t mind. While he appreciates the sentiment of not approaching a friend’s ex without consulting him, he’s quick to point out that he and Rachel are ancient history. He feels obligated to inform Harry that Amanda might have neglected to mention that Rachel isn’t interested in a relationship. Harry just smirks and says that he isn’t either.

In the end, Harry sticks around for three weeks. He and Rachel become good friends and agree to keep in touch. Danny doesn’t know and has no intention of asking whether that friendship has any benefits. It’s likely that Harry won’t be around for the Okada case now, assuming it still happens in October, but Danny is confident that it won’t be a problem. Interestingly, he learns that there’s also unlikely to be any kidnapping situation as a result of Harry’s novel, as Amanda’s publisher feels that maintaining an air of mystery by having the author never appear in public would be a good marketing strategy, and that Amanda’s endorsement should be enough to ensure success.

Danny might not be considering his own retirement yet, and he and Steve are unquestionably much healthier and more youthful than they originally were at this point, but nonetheless he thinks it would be nice if they could gradually start slowing down and going into the field less often. To that end, he plans to still try to convince Steve to hire Tani and Junior at some point, although personally he feels that it would be beneficial for them both to spend at least a short time with HPD.

Therefore, when all of HPD starts gossiping about Tani cheating on her written test and breaking Captain Keo’s nose, Danny goes to Keo to explain about the death of Tani’s father. He also mentions that if she gets kicked out, Steve might bring her on to Five-0 anyway, so it would be better for everyone if Tani gets to complete her training and gain some experience of real police work. Luckily, Keo agrees.

Danny has no idea how or when Tani might now end up joining the team, but he assumes an opportunity will present itself eventually. One thing he does know for certain is that whenever it happens, her first experience with Five-0 will thankfully not involve getting trapped in a cabin in the middle of a wildfire, since Duclair is dead and Aaron Wright is in prison alongside his brother. Happily, this should also mean that Toast will remain safe and sound and Kamekona will not be taken by Joey Kang. Finally, the fact that there will be no foolish attempt to open a restaurant will save Danny and Steve from a lot of stress, bickering and injuries.

One morning in September, Danny is preparing breakfast when there’s a knock on the front door.

“I’ll get it!” Charlie yells.

Danny has his hands full so he decides to let Charlie get on with it. Steve is upstairs with Freddie and Grace has already left so she can meet Will before school, but Danny trusts Riley to handle the situation if whoever is at the door poses a threat.

A moment later, he hears Junior’s voice for the first time in a long time, saying, “Hi. Is your daddy home?”

“Which one?” Charlie asks.

There’s a brief silence. Danny thinks it’s hysterical that Junior has somehow found out Steve’s home address but appears to be unaware that he has a husband.

Junior clarifies a moment later, “Commander Steve McGarrett.”

“He’s upstairs,” Charlie tells him. “My brother is sick. There’s puke _everywhere_.”

That last part is said with an unholy amount of glee. Danny puts the finishing touches on breakfast then heads for the door to rescue Junior, calling out, “Charlie! Breakfast!” as he goes. Charlie and Riley quickly run past in the opposite direction.

“Hi,” Danny says, smiling as he reaches out to shake Junior’s hand. “I’m Danny.”

“Special Operator Second Class Junior Reigns.” Junior shifts awkwardly. “I’m sorry to hear your son is sick. I can come back another time.”

“Thanks, but it’s no big deal. Little kids get sick a lot.” Danny steps back and gestures in the direction of the couch. “Come on in and take a seat. I’ll go relieve my husband.”

With that, Danny simply leaves the door open and heads upstairs. He glances back to see Junior now looking extremely uncomfortable as he shuts the door behind himself and sits down. When he enters the boys’ bedroom, Danny finds Freddie curled up in Charlie’s bed while Steve is putting fresh sheets on Freddie’s. It looks like Steve has already cleaned the floor and every other surface Freddie somehow managed to contaminate, including Steve himself.

“Hey babe,” Danny says. “There’s a baby SEAL waiting for you downstairs.”

“What?” Steve looks adorably confused.

“Special Operator Second Class Junior Reigns,” Danny explains.

Steve frowns. “You left a total stranger downstairs with Charlie?” He rushes from the room without waiting for a response.

Danny belatedly realizes exactly how strange and impulsive his actions would appear to anyone else. But there’s nothing he can do about it now, so he just continues where Steve left off. When the task is complete, he moves the empty bucket that’s currently beside Charlie’s bed to within easy reach of Freddie’s, then carefully picks up his unwell son and carries him across the room. Danny sits back against the headboard and settles Freddie against him. It won’t be that much longer before he’s too big for this kind of thing.

Steve comes back maybe ten minutes later and perches on the edge of the bed.

“Junior seems nice,” Danny says somewhat pointedly, leaving the ‘not at all dangerous to children’ unsaid but heavily implied. “What did he want?”

Steve momentarily narrows his eyes at Danny, clearly still thinking that Danny’s actions were a little reckless, even though Steve obviously likes Junior too. But he apparently decides it’s not worth fighting about. “He wants to join Five-0. I told him we’re not hiring.”

Danny decides to stay quiet on the subject for now. He suspects he might already be on thin ice with his husband without questioning one of his work-related decisions. “Do you want to stay home with Freddie today, or should I?”

Steve glances down at their youngest son then graces Danny with a gentle smile. “He looks pretty comfortable right where he is.”

“Okay,” Danny replies serenely. “Then you’d better get out of here, or Charlie will be late for school.”

Steve spares a moment to drop a kiss on Freddie’s forehead, then does the same to Danny before making as if to leave. Danny rolls his eyes and grabs his husband to drag him back for a real kiss, albeit a very brief one.

Several hours later, Danny has just finished soothing Freddie back to sleep after his third round of vomiting, which fortunately all made it into the bucket, when there’s another knock on the front door. When he finally answers it, he’s only mildly surprised to find Junior standing there.

“Hi,” Junior says, “I’m sorry to disturb you, but I was just about to run to the store and wondered if I could pick up anything for you? Maybe something you need for your little boy?”

They do not in fact desperately need anything, but Danny knows it’s always safer to give a bored SEAL a mission to keep him occupied, so he thanks Junior and gives him some cash and a short list of things he was planning to buy in a few days.

When Junior returns with the requested items and inquires whether there’s anything else he can do to help, Danny asks if he would mind taking Riley for a walk, since the poor dog missed out this morning while the entire family was busy with other things. Junior cheerfully agrees. While he’s gone, Danny calls Rachel and arranges for her to take Grace and Charlie for the night in case Freddie is still sick and possibly contagious.

When Junior and Riley get back, Junior accepts Danny’s invitation to come in for a drink. Once they’re seated in the living room with their refreshments, Danny gets straight to the point. “I hear you want to join us at Five-0.”

Junior’s eyes widen slightly; apparently he hasn’t realized until now that Danny is also on the team. “Yes, sir, there’s no other job I’m interested in.”

Danny pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts. “I’m sure you’ve heard that half the team was recruited straight out of the Navy, but that was a long time ago and things have changed. If you really want to join Five-0, you need to demonstrate your commitment by making it through the Police Academy. Then you should remain with HPD for a couple of months.”

Junior considers this. “If I do that, will I definitely get a spot at Five-0? Commander McGarrett seemed adamant that he couldn’t take me on.”

Danny smiles. “I’ll talk to Steve and get him to call you to confirm the agreement. What’s your number?”

“I’m not sure,” Junior says as he pulls a phone out of his pocket, which Danny was not expecting, as he knows Junior didn’t have one the first time he met Steve. “My sister gave me this phone earlier today and I haven’t checked the number yet.”

Fortunately, Junior’s concentration is on the device in his hand, so he doesn’t see how stunned Danny is by this piece of information. By the time Junior looks up, Danny has managed to force his face back into a more neutral expression.

After they’ve exchanged numbers, Danny asks casually, “So, you have family on the island?”

“Yes. My parents and my sister, Maya.”

“Nice. Will you be living with them?”

Junior sighs. “For now, but I don’t know how long it will last. I’m not on the best of terms with my dad, but my mom and my sister want me there.”

Well, this is a fascinating development that will hopefully mean Junior won’t end up crashing on their couch.

“I should go,” Junior says abruptly. He reaches out to shake Danny’s hand again. “Thank you, sir.” 

“No, thank you for the help today,” Danny tells him as he walks him out. “And you don’t have to call me ‘sir’ all the time.”

“Yes, sir.”

Danny chuckles as he closes the door behind Junior. It’s been really good to see him again, and even better to learn that Maya is somehow still alive. His happy thoughts are promptly interrupted by a plaintive call of “Danno…” from upstairs. He sprints but still barely arrives in time to get the bucket into position.

Much later, when Steve walks in the door with Eddie in tow, it’s immediately obvious that he has instantly fallen in love with the Labrador and isn’t about to try to pretend otherwise this time. Danny watches with a fond smile as Riley and Eddie greet each other with unreserved friendliness. He looks up to meet Steve’s eyes and knows there isn’t going to be any discussion; Eddie is staying.

Over dinner, Danny informs Steve of Junior’s helpfulness and his determination to join the team. He also shares his own thoughts on potentially slowing down before retiring, and explains that he believes it would be a good idea to start thinking about training their eventual replacements. Luckily, it doesn’t take too long for Steve to agree to call Duke to arrange for Junior to join the academy. Junior’s enthusiastic and grateful response is clearly audible when Steve calls to let him know.

Danny silently congratulates himself on a job well done. He’s looking forward to discovering how Junior and Tani will get along with all of the other members of Five-0 some time soon.


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks to Danny and Steve’s intervention, Junior gets added to the class of cadets that recently started at the academy. This means he has a couple of weeks of catching up to do, and it’s possible that some of his classmates are resentful of the special treatment, but he seems happy enough. Danny encourages Steve to stay in touch with the young man to check on his progress and offer advice on adjusting to civilian life, although Junior seems to be a little less in need of the support since his relationship with his family is better than it previously was.

Time passes by swiftly. As Danny has come to expect, the fact that the composition of the team is different has no negative impact on Five-0’s impressive rate of success, whether Danny recognizes their cases or not. He’s exceedingly grateful for the continued presence of Chin, Kono, Billy and Cath. Of course he’s also glad that Lou and Jerry are still around as well, but there’s nothing new about that.

When the third week of October arrives, Danny, Steve and Freddie travel to New Jersey to attend Sophie’s confirmation. As hoped, with Aaron Wright out of the way, no distressing events occur on Oahu while they’re gone, so there’s no need to hurry back and therefore they get the chance to thoroughly catch up with the whole family.

At the end of October, Danny gets another reminder of how shockingly fast kids grow up, as Freddie turns four and Grace gets her driver’s permit. Meanwhile, Tani graduates from the academy at the top of her class and becomes an HPD officer.

On Halloween, there’s still a homicide to investigate, but it’s not one Danny is familiar with. The murders related to Hawaiian myths do not take place, so thankfully there’s no stressful child abduction either. When he gets a moment, Danny looks up Marissa Walker and discovers a news story that he missed when it happened; a hiker came across Marissa in the woods a couple of years ago and was eventually able to befriend her and get her the help she needed.

In early November, Five-0 still handles the case of Oliver Mathus. Alicia isn’t around to assist, but it’s not a big problem, as they’re able to get the same insights from Oliver’s psychiatrist. When ‘Patrick’ shows up at HPD, Danny suggests that they ask Duke to keep an eye on the guy but take no action until Five-0 arrives. Therefore, they’re able to resolve the situation a little earlier by taking him in at the station with minimal drama. During the course of the investigation, Danny recalls that the stress management consultant, Chloe, was around for the ride last time. He’s incredibly happy that there’s now no need for her services, and the memory of how uncomfortable Steve originally was about discussing his sex life in front of Danny is extremely amusing. Although to be honest, Steve would probably still prefer to steer clear of the topic when they’re at work.

A week later, ten million dollars is still stolen in a bank robbery, but no one at Five-0 becomes aware of it until the crooks are long gone, since Junior was not in the area to see the crime begin. Presumably, his running route is different now that he’s living at his parents’ house. But whatever the reason, the fortuitous result is that Steve doesn’t have to suffer through the anguish of temporarily believing he has killed a cop. Since the robbers still come after the bank teller while he’s in rendition at the palace, the case is solved and the money is retrieved just as quickly as before.

It’s a few days later before Danny learns that on the day of the robbery, Koa got swept up in the raid by Vice this time. Since Tani is not a member of Five-0 and therefore does not receive the daily briefs detailing all HPD activities, she wasn’t able to intervene and get him out of there beforehand. Luckily, Koa is offered and accepts a deal of probation and mandatory rehab. This might actually work out better in the long run, as he and Tani will hopefully be spared from the overdose incident, and with any luck Koa will still be offered a job at the rehab center, perhaps a few months earlier than before.

The usual Thanksgiving festivities double up as a welcome home party for Joe and Linda, who have just returned from their travels and now plan to settle on the island. Since they’re effectively honorary grandparents to Joan and his own children, Danny intends to do everything in his power to ensure they’re around for years to come, so he’s going to have to figure out a way to deal with Greer at some point.

But first, Danny has a slightly more pressing issue to contend with, in the form of Jerry, who is in attendance with Meredith, but doesn’t seem quite his usual cheerful self. When Jerry steps outside to ‘get some air’ and Danny quickly follows him, it’s clear from the looks he receives from many of their friends that they’ve also noticed something is amiss. Jerry seems relieved when Danny joins him, but if he’s hoping for some sort of magical wisdom to solve whatever his problem is, he’s going to be sorely disappointed.

“Got something on your mind?” Danny asks casually.

Jerry sighs before confiding somewhat despondently, “I want to propose to Meredith, but she once told me she thinks marriage is ‘an outdated patriarchal system for transferring ownership of women.’”

“Oh,” Danny replies solemnly, just stalling for a moment while he considers the matter. “How long ago was that and how did you respond?”

“It was a couple of months after we met. I said it might have started out that way, but that I see marriage as a way for two people to express the depth of their love and commitment to each other.”

Danny can’t help but smile at that. “Okay, good. It’s been more than a year, and you’ve moved in together since then, so it’s possible her perspective might have shifted. It’s a lot easier to be cynical about marriage when you’re not actually in love. But if you do propose, maybe skip the ring so it doesn’t seem like you’re trying to ‘buy’ her. You can always offer to go pick one out together if she decides it’s something she wants after all. On the other hand, if she says no, and it seems like a ‘never’ rather than a ‘not now’, I guess at that point you’ll have to decide how important marriage is to you and whether it’s a deal-breaker.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“I get that, but what if it turns out you’re needlessly missing out on something that would make you truly happy, just because you’re scared to take a risk? Trust me, there’s nothing worse than that.”

Jerry regards Danny critically for a few moments and there’s something in his eyes that makes Danny think that what he’s just said has somehow confirmed a suspicion Jerry has about him. Shit.

“Danny, are you…”

“Jerry, _stop_ ,” he interjects sharply, while closing his eyes to help conceal his rising panic. “I _can’t_.”

“Temporal prime directive?”

Damn it Jerry, Danny thinks viciously, while carefully remaining completely motionless and keeping his face blank so he’s technically neither confirming nor denying. He prays that will be enough to protect the people he loves.

“Okay,” Jerry says quietly after a long pause. “Thanks for the advice. I think I might wait a few months and propose on the second anniversary of the day we met. That would be romantic, right?”

“Yes,” Danny readily agrees, although he still hasn’t dared to open his eyes. “Good idea.”

“Thanks,” Jerry repeats, before awkwardly patting Danny on the shoulder as he walks past to head back into the house.

Once he’s sure he’s alone, Danny’s knees buckle and he starts trembling uncontrollably. Jesus, that was horrible. He frantically embraces the hope that he can’t be held responsible for people guessing his secret, and that everyone will be safe as long as he doesn’t confirm it. Given that there’s no screaming from the house, he assumes no one has randomly dropped dead, although for all he knows the effects wouldn’t be instantaneous and might strike later, when he least expects it. That appalling thought inspires him to quickly get to his feet, dust himself off, and hurry back inside. The first family member he encounters is Freddie, who he immediately scoops up for a reassuring cuddle.

After a moment, his precious little boy complains, “Danno, you’re squishing me.”

“I’m sorry, buddy,” Danny murmurs, loosening his grasp but unwilling to completely relinquish his hold just yet. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, Danno,” Freddie replies with a sweet smile, and Danny finally begins to calm down a little.

His mood improves even further when Charlie suddenly collides with him in a surprise but very welcome hug attack. As if they have sensed that he needs them, Grace and Steve approach shortly after, so Danny gets to hug and kiss all of his favorite people and tell them he loves them. Riley and Eddie also wander over to complete the family group. Danny lets the kids go before too long so they can get back to having fun with their gathered ohana, but finds himself being embarrassingly clingy with Steve for the rest of the evening. His husband looks slightly concerned at first but indulges him without comment.

It takes a few days for Danny to feel secure that there aren’t going to be any tragic consequences for his near miss with Jerry, but after that first night he becomes much better at hiding his anxiety, so thankfully no one asks him any difficult questions. He sincerely hopes that Jerry won’t ever mention the subject again.

Danny soon gets an entirely different reason to feel anxious when the Hammerade Air Race comes to town. The case proceeds differently, since Tani isn’t around to get Koa to steal the trim tab, but in the end, the evidence of Agent Callaghan’s financial links to Hammerade is enough to get the NTSB to assign a new lead agent, who immediately orders a review of all the evidence, resulting in the cause of the crash being correctly declared as sabotage.

Meanwhile, Five-0 still rescue the deceased pilot’s widow and son from the Maldonado cartel, and Steve volunteers to fly in the race in order to help them out. As much as Danny would like to stop him, and he probably could, he knows that doing so would weigh heavily on both of them, given that an innocent woman and child would suffer. So instead, Danny just begs Steve to be careful and tells him that Danny would be far more impressed by a safe run than a competitive time. He feels no shame about adding the somewhat manipulative comment that one widow is enough, especially since it works and Steve completes the course without almost killing himself. Danny rewards this good behavior and also expresses his appreciation of how Steve looks in that flight suit by greeting him at the airfield with a heated kiss and a whispered, “Good job, Maverick.”

One week later, not long after Monique Sims is found adrift at sea, Danny takes one look at the satellite image of the bodies all over the boat and immediately raises the possibility of a biological agent, pointing out that it doesn’t look like the victims were shot. It’s clear that most of the team thinks he’s making an unjustified leap, but Jerry quickly backs him up. Fortunately, Steve decides to humor them, so Danny doesn’t have to resort to throwing a tantrum like a toddler, which he definitely would have done rather than allow anyone to set foot on that boat without a HAZMAT suit. Of course, it now takes much longer to secure the scene, but since the virus never made it off the boat, there’s no imminent threat, so it doesn’t really matter. Danny successfully resists the urge to say ‘I told you so’.

During the week that was originally spent in quarantine, the team handles a couple of routine cases that HPD probably dealt with before, but otherwise it’s fairly quiet and they while away a lot of hours catching up on paperwork. One morning when they’re all gathered around the smart table just shooting the breeze, talk turns to the unfortunate but entertaining tale of an HPD officer whose recent wedding day was ruined by his psycho ex showing up. This reminds Danny once again of Greer.

Therefore he turns to Steve and says, “Hey, babe, do you have any crazy exes I should know about?”

Steve chuckles. “Not that I know of.”

“Uh, actually,” Cath chimes in, “there is a certain CIA agent who was so obsessed with you that she tried to scare me off back in the day.”

“Seriously?” Steve asks incredulously. “I can’t believe you never told me that before.”

Cath shrugs. “It was awkward and she clearly didn’t know what the hell she was talking about… she said you weren’t the type to ever settle down.”

Everyone has a good laugh about that while Steve wraps one arm around Danny and gazes down at him with undisguised adoration.

They only look away from each other when Chin interrupts with, “What about you, Danny? Any insane exes that Steve might have to fight off someday?”

Predictably, Steve’s grip on Danny tightens possessively.

“Nope,” Danny says quickly. He meets Steve’s eyes again as he adds, “Nothing to worry about, babe.” He neglects to mention that a larger concern might be the ex of an ex, although at this point he’s optimistic that Ray Gardner is not going to come after him following their confrontation four years ago.

Later, when he gets a moment alone, Danny takes the opportunity to call Joe and ask him if he knows which CIA agent Catherine might have been referring to and, if so, whether he might be able to reach out to one of his contacts to try to determine the likelihood of her popping up to cause a problem in the future. Unsurprisingly, Joe tells Danny he can’t share the agent’s name, but agrees to look into the matter.

Two days later, Joe drops by early in the morning, while Steve is swimming, to let Danny know that the ‘unnamed agent’ quit the Agency several years ago after marrying a wealthy businessman and starting a family. While he’ll never know for sure, Danny wonders whether learning that Steve had married a man somehow allowed Greer to let go of her bitterness and move on. In any case, the important thing is that it seems highly unlikely that she will still choose to sell out the Morocco team. Danny breathes a sigh of relief and thanks Joe for his help.

Danny is also greatly relieved when he makes it through the entire week without being shot. Steve making no attempt to butcher his hair again is merely icing on the cake.

At Christmastime, Steve is already at the parade with Danny, Rachel, Mary, Deb and the kids, when the two bad santas rob the armored car. This means that he’s not in a position to immediately pursue them, so they initially make a clean getaway. However, in a bizarre twist of fate, as they speed away, the driver loses control of the car and crashes into a telephone pole, killing both criminals on impact. While Danny appreciates the instant karma of this, he now has no charming Christmas miracle story to share with Charlie and Freddie. But on reflection, he’s certain that getting to spend more time with their daddy is more valuable to the boys than hearing any amount of epic tales with him in a starring role. There will be plenty of other chances for them to learn exactly how heroic Steve is. As for the other veterans, they’ve already carried out more than enough courageous acts for one lifetime, and helping out at the shelter is a worthy endeavor in its own right.

During the first week of January, it suddenly occurs to Danny that there has been no escalating gang war over the past couple of months, and consequently no need for the governor to request an FBI task force. He can only assume that this is due to Hiro Noshimuri still being alive and able to keep his daughter Noriko under control. Naturally, this will prevent of lot of stressful events from coming to pass and Adam will get to remain a successful businessman rather than getting dragged into the world of law enforcement.

Time marches on, with life at home and at work both vastly different than the original timeline, in the best possible ways. For a while, opportunities for Danny to make improvements are few and far between, but he does what he can and mostly just enjoys his new reality. He’s extremely pleased to attend Jerry and Meredith’s engagement party in February.

In mid March, Tani’s captain at HPD asks to meet with Steve and practically begs him to take her off his hands, contending that she’s so smart and driven that her talents are wasted at HPD. Danny suspects that the truth of the situation is that HPD is not the best fit for her and she’s driving the poor man crazy, having acquired an equal number of commendations and reprimands in the span of just four and a half months. Steve says he wants Tani to shadow Five-0 for a week before making a final decision, but Danny is confident about what the outcome will be.

Indeed, Tani gets along just fine with everyone from day one. Also, it turns out that on the second day, Steve gets an additional reason to consider bringing a new member onto the team, when Cath and Billy joyfully announce that Cath is now twelve weeks pregnant and therefore needs to start taking it easy. Danny is pretty sure Steve has already made up his mind by day three, but he stubbornly waits until the end of the week to formally offer Tani a position with Five-0. Unsurprisingly, she eagerly accepts.

During her first official week with the team, it swiftly becomes apparent that Tani has selected Kono as her role model. Steve is all too happy to encourage this by pairing them up and allowing Kono to take on primary responsibility for mentoring their new recruit. It’s immensely gratifying to watch their original rookie now expertly training the first member of the next generation of Five-0.

About a week later, Danny becomes convinced that the universe has a sense of humor, when poor Junior becomes infamous at HPD when he somehow still ends up getting pepper sprayed by an old lady while walking a beat with one of his classmates, which is the final step before graduating from the academy. Danny knows that Steve has become fond of Junior by this point and is tempted to bring him onto Five-0 immediately, but ultimately Steve decides that leaving him to gain some experience with HPD would be worthwhile.

In April, Steve still receives an example of how random chance can completely alter the course of a person’s life, when he meets the Hawaiian Syndicate hit man Leroy Davis and learns that John would most likely have been killed if he hadn’t been called away by Steve’s birth. When Steve subsequently shares his thoughts on how strange and mysterious fate is, Danny muses that his husband doesn’t know the half of it, but obviously has to keep this to himself.

When they meet up with Harry again, Danny is able to prevent Lady Sophie from running off by simply excusing himself at the critical moment, ostensibly to fetch more animal crackers from the car for his ravenous husband, but conveniently interrupting the escape attempt in the process. It’s amusing to observe that sulky teenagers are much the same the world over, regardless of their family circumstances. Since they now get to just relax and enjoy a fantastic lunch, Danny has no reasonable basis on which to question Lady Sophie’s paternity, so that’s one secret that Harry will get to keep for now. Later in the day, Harry takes Rachel out for dinner. The fact that Danny and Steve are not invited suggests there might now be something more than friendship going on there, but Danny is content to also keep his nose out of that for the time being.

Although he still doesn’t have a badge, Jerry nonetheless volunteers to go undercover at the psychiatric hospital when it becomes clear that no one else on the team particularly wants the task. Steve grants his request and then finally gives him his well earned badge while he’s lying in the hospital after solving the case and saving himself from the bad guys.

Meanwhile, there’s no distressing kidnapping experience for Duke and his family. Danny’s best guess is that the drug dealer whose money caused the event last time never got brought in for the hit-and-run, which also might not have even happened.

In early May, Junior ends up spending the day with Five-0 after they run into him at his friend Cammy’s apartment while investigating the murder of Cammy’s mother and the suspicious death of Tommy Boyle. Junior and Tani meet for the first time at this point, but Junior barely seems to notice her while distracted by his worry for his friend. Danny has no doubt that will change soon enough and it will be interesting to see how long it will take for one of them to make a move this time. But first, there’s still a case to solve. Danny isn’t in the mood to repeat the ridiculous kung fu fight, no matter how much Steve would undoubtedly enjoy watching it, so he says nothing when they visit Jin Leung for help. When the case is over, Steve caves and invites Junior to join the team.

Danny supposes that one month of real police work is better than nothing, and at least this way Junior will have some time to settle in before Steve and Danny leave the team in Lou and Chin’s capable hands while they travel to England for a three week vacation in July. As Amanda helpfully pointed out, it might well be the last chance for a family trip before Grace goes off to college, and since she wants the opportunity to see her grandchildren on her home turf, Amanda is even paying for everyone’s flights and accommodating them in her spacious home. Danny is ecstatic that Steve has agreed to take the time away from work, so much so that even the thought of dealing with Amanda can’t dent his enthusiasm for the upcoming trip.

As it turns out, Junior doesn’t immediately start with Five-0, since he still gets called up for the SEAL mission in Nigeria. But since Joe is not there this time, Steve remains at home.

Unfortunately for Junior, this means that his first case with the team is the Russian submarine incident. As he watches Steve nonchalantly sailing off towards the imposing vessel, he asks with some concern, “Is it always like this?”

Danny reflects that he’s become so desensitized to this kind of thing that he rarely spares a thought for how truly insane their lives are. Moreover, now that he thinks about it, when he got thrown back through time seven years ago, he could have used his second chance to do anything; he could have quit and lived a much safer, more peaceful life, and yet he chose to be right here. 

Despite his concern for his amazing, idiotic husband, Danny finds himself grinning right along with the other lunatics on the team, as Billy claps Junior on the shoulder and gleefully announces, “Welcome to Five-0.”


	17. Chapter 17

Thankfully, their next few cases after taking down the Russian spy network are much more mundane, giving Junior a chance to find his feet. He settles in quickly, effortlessly charming the entire team with his earnestness and dedication. Although their new recruit clearly idolizes Steve and Billy, Steve usually pairs Junior up with one of the actual cops on the team, clearly hoping to encourage a more conventional approach to law enforcement. As Danny expected, Tani and Junior’s attraction to each other swiftly becomes glaringly obvious, but for now they both seem resolved to pretend it doesn’t exist. Danny can certainly understand not wanting to jeopardize a new working relationship and developing friendship, but hopes he hasn’t disrupted their dynamic enough to drastically extend the time it will take for them to get together.

Danny and Steve’s sixth anniversary is a Saturday, so they take Friday off work to celebrate with another long weekend away. Danny has allowed Steve to plan the whole thing this year, so after they drop Freddie and the dogs with Aunt Deb on Friday morning, he has absolutely no idea where they’re headed next. He’s half expecting to get dragged up a mountain or through a forest to camp in some remote location, so he’s very pleasantly surprised when Steve drives to Turtle Bay. Steve’s dazzling grin reveals that he is thrilled to have succeeded in defying Danny’s expectations. Danny is enthusiastic and generous when it comes to expressing his appreciation for Steve’s choice, taking full advantage of the availability of the large, comfortable bed and the huge bathtub which has plenty of room for two. The entire weekend is extraordinarily enjoyable.

Four weeks later, they once again leave Riley and Eddie in the care of Deb and Mary prior to setting off on the long journey to London. It’s a somewhat stressful day, particularly since Freddie and Charlie keep changing their minds about which family member they want to sit next to, resulting in a high number of seat switches, but the boys’ restless excitement is heartwarming nonetheless. Even Grace gets caught up in the atmosphere, showing no signs of the usual subtle exasperation whenever one of her brothers is demanding her attention.

Danny is exhausted by the time they finally arrive at Heathrow Airport, so it’s a relief to be able to immediately get into the limo that Amanda has sent for them, rather than having to deal with the time consuming process of picking up a rental. As entertaining as it would be to see Steve driving on the wrong side of the often terrifyingly narrow roads, it’s probably just as well to avoid such a thing while they’re jet lagged.

Amanda is quick to welcome them all when they arrive at her enormous, elegant house. It’s just a matter of minutes before she gets started on spoiling the kids rotten with expensive gifts. Danny and Rachel have long since given up on trying to convince her that she doesn’t need to buy their affections, so they let it pass without comment, although Danny is grateful that Amanda has thoughtfully included Freddie when making her purchases. The rest of the day is mostly spent just settling in and trying to adjust to the new timezone.

Harry shows up the next morning, which Danny didn’t know was going to happen, but he’s not overly surprised. Although Harry warmly greets everyone, he definitely lingers while hugging Rachel and kissing her cheek. Danny suspects the interaction might have gone a little differently if the kids weren’t present. Steve clearly thinks so too judging by his happy and slightly amused expression. Amanda looks immensely pleased.

The next three weeks pass by incredibly quickly, as they occupy themselves with checking out some of the many impressive sights the UK has to offer, while also fitting in numerous visits to Rachel’s aunts, uncles and cousins who are scattered across the country. They’re all lovely, down-to-earth people and even Amanda is nothing but friendly towards Danny now.

Harry remains with the family throughout the trip, but always has his own room. Due to the size of the group, they travel in two cars and at first Steve is content to let Harry drive, mostly due to the fact that there’s usually at least one child in the vehicle. But Steve insists on driving the first time all three kids are in the other car with Rachel and Amanda. Harry rides shotgun to offer guidance and Danny isn’t sure which one of them finds the experience more stressful, but in any case Danny manages to persuade Steve that getting chauffeured around would make for a far more relaxing vacation, particularly when there aren’t any children present and they can peacefully snuggle in the backseat.

All in all, the entire family has a fantastic time. Amazingly, Steve is able to let go enough to leave the team to their own devices; as long as he receives a daily confirmation that everyone is still in one piece, he doesn’t request any further details of what they’re getting up to at work. Danny has definitely never seen his husband so laid-back for such a long time and he likes it a hell of a lot, which translates into some extremely fun times in the bedroom. Not that he has ever had any complaints in that department, and he would never have believed it possible after all these years, but they have somehow achieved a whole new level of ecstasy. Although there’s still a little while to go before they make it that far, Danny feels confident that they’re not going to encounter the seven-year itch.

During dinner on the last day before they’re due to return to Hawaii, Danny observes that Rachel and Harry are now unquestionably completely head over heels for each other. He’s delighted that they both appear to be ready to give love another chance. It seems likely that Harry will be joining them on Oahu before too long.

As much as Danny has relished every moment of the break, it’s still wonderful to get back home. There’s nothing quite like the familiar comfort of your own bed. He does however experience an unpleasant amount of guilt when poor Riley and Eddie greet them like they’ve been gone for months, then spend several days following them around the house whenever they’re home and staring at them mournfully any time they’re about to go out.

Returning to work is something of a shock to the system, although it is of course nice to see everyone again. Tani and Junior have both thoroughly settled in by this point. Since Danny and Steve haven’t been around to see the progress on a daily basis, the changes in Cath’s appearance after three weeks seem quite dramatic, although as it’s just a single baby this time, she’s not as large as she was during her first pregnancy.

Harry arrives on the island two weeks later. He gets a place of his own rather than moving in with Rachel, and they both claim that they’re intending to take things slowly, but it’s obvious that Harry is expecting the move to be permanent. His new house is certainly a lot larger than necessary for one person. Danny thinks Steve is only half-serious when he offers their friend a job, but regardless of the degree of sincerity, Harry just laughs it off and says he wants to focus on writing his next book. He does however hint that he might occasionally drop by to help out on an informal basis if he gets bored.

The following week, Freddie starts prekindergarten, which feels a bit surreal. It seems like no time at all since he was a tiny, helpless baby.

Another couple of weeks go by before their ohana gathers for Jerry and Meredith’s wedding. It’s a relatively small and simple event, but joyful and beautiful nevertheless. Mary’s plus-one is Justin, her ex-boyfriend from middle school, who she has reconnected with much sooner now that she lives on the island. Danny silently wishes them better luck with making the relationship work this time.

Most of September passes by fairly uneventfully, until the final week, when Cath goes into labor. Although he’s made great strides in addressing his fears, and statistically speaking a single pregnancy is a lot safer, it’s at this point that Billy freaks out. Since there’s not much going on at work, Steve and Danny accompany their friends to the hospital and spend most of the day sitting around in the waiting room, just so they’re nearby to provide support if needed. Fortunately, Cath delivers a healthy baby girl without any complications. Their new daughter, Rose, is only days old when Billy confides with an edge of hysteria that his wife has already raised the possibility of trying again for a boy in a few months. Danny gets the impression he’s mostly just stunned by the thought of going through it all again so soon rather than being genuinely opposed to the idea, but they’ll have to wait and see how the situation plays out.

Danny is elated when he realizes that they’ve made it past the time when Steve’s friend Agent Hennessey originally turned up dead, as this confirms that Greer is no longer a threat and the team is not going to have to endure the distressing sensory deprivation tank incident and the horrific chain of events that followed. Steve suffered more than enough sudden bereavement in his life before the point at which Danny arrived back in 2011, so Danny is determined to continue to protect his husband from losing anyone else he cares about whenever possible.

During the heatwave in October, with the comfort of Freddie and the dogs their main priority, Danny and Steve choose to escape the lack of air conditioning at home by going to stay with Aunt Deb and Mary. The welfare of Cath and Rose is also a major concern, but luckily the air conditioning at the Rollins-Harrington residence remains fully functional throughout the five days of unbearably hot conditions.

A week later, Junior is sadly still called upon to carry out the dignified transfer of Staff Sergeant Kaliko, and Jerry still accompanies him in order to honor his fallen friend Mika. Meanwhile, the rest of the team still works the case of the bodies uncovered by the black market sand operation. Mercifully, Steve refrains from jumping into the sand processing machine like a total imbecile; becoming a husband and father has done wonders to improve his point of view on the value of his own life.

On Halloween, it’s once again Danny, Steve and Chin’s turn to take the day off to be with their kids. The on duty members of Five-0 handle yet another serial killer case that Danny has forgotten about since he wasn’t involved the first time around. He feels particularly terrible about this one given that in addition to taking three lives, the sicko has been traumatizing his young daughter by involving her in his heinous crimes. Danny does recall ahead of time that Jerry and his childhood friends, plus Eric and Noelani are most likely about to be in significant danger due to their ‘camping trip’ in the woods, but since they all survived last time he decides not to intervene, even though it goes against every instinct he has. 

A few days later, it’s Saturday and Billy drops by with all three of his kids, leaving Cath home alone for some well deserved uninterrupted rest. Danny is just about to head out the door with Grace to check out a couple of used cars they’ve been researching online, but no doubt Steve and Billy will get by just fine without him. Taking control of the situation by helping to select the vehicle is the only way for Danny to deal with his apprehension about this venture. He and Steve have also already had a serious conversation with Grace to explain that she should never leave the relative safety of a public place if she believes some creep might try to follow her, along with the correct actions to take should someone end up chasing her in a vehicle, making sure she understands that attempting to outpace a pursuer is never a sensible option. Hopefully this will prevent a repeat of the gut-wrenching accident.

Several hours later, Danny arrives home alone, having acquired a reliable used car for his daughter. She was so excited that he couldn’t say no to her request to go show the vehicle off to Will. Before taking off, she does at least spare a moment to send a picture of her new pride and joy and express her gratitude to her other two parents, since they’re all contributing to the cost.

When he walks in the front door, Danny finds Steve sitting alone on the couch holding Rose. If the faint sounds drifting in from the back yard are anything to go by, Billy is playing some kind of highly energetic game with the other four kids and the dogs. But Danny’s attention is mostly focused on his husband, who is gazing down at the baby with a somewhat wistful expression. Danny experiences a moment of irrational fear that Steve is regretting choosing Danny over Catherine; if things had gone differently, that infant could have been his. But then Steve looks up and the undiminished magnitude of the love and devotion in his eyes as he gives Danny a welcoming smile instantly vanquishes that truly absurd notion.

Danny takes his rightful place at Steve’s side and smiles down at Rose, offering his finger for her to grasp with her tiny hand. “Hi Rose,” he murmurs. “Are you making your Uncle Steve broody?”

Steve chuckles quietly. “Maybe a little,” he admits, while gazing down at the baby again. “But I’m okay with getting my fix by borrowing other people’s kids.”

“Are you sure?” Danny asks seriously. “Because I’m willing to have another one if you want to, but we probably shouldn’t wait much longer if we’re going to do it.”

Steve meets Danny’s eyes and smiles softly. “I’m good, really. I feel like our family is complete. Besides, if we have another baby now it might seem like we’re trying to replace Gracie when she goes off to college and that’s just… no.”

Danny returns Steve’s smile. “Okay. I’m not going to argue with that. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Steve replies, while leaning in to initiate a tender, lingering kiss.

They’re eventually interrupted by a sudden insistent cry of discomfort from Rose. It sounds to Danny’s expert ear like it’s probably a diaper related problem, so he smirks and informs Steve, “That’s all you, babe,” before quickly getting up and walking off to join in the infinitely preferable activity going on outside.

The following morning, while Steve is swimming and the kids are all still sleeping, Danny sneaks outside and affixes a bumper sticker to Grace’s new car that reads ‘My dad is a Navy SEAL’. While he doesn’t want his daughter to ever view herself as a powerless female in need of male protection, he can’t ignore the reality that there are a lot of misogynistic jerks out there who are far more likely to pay attention to this than to simply respect Grace’s disinterest in them. Besides, his primary motivation is the anticipation of watching his badass husband turn into a pile of goo when he notices the sticker.

Since Steve hasn’t actually seen Grace’s car in person yet, Danny suggests that they go outside to see her off when she’s leaving to meet some friends, which means that Grace and Steve end up spotting the embellishment within seconds of each other. Grace whirls around looking indignant, but her displeasure quickly melts away when she sees Steve’s misty eyes. She grins brightly and hugs both her dads before gleefully driving off. Steve remains frozen in place staring after her, so Danny cheerfully moves to embrace his giant marshmallow for however long it takes for him to pull himself together.

When Steve and Billy meet up with their buddy Carson Rodes the following week, Danny declines the invitation to join them and stays home contemplating the best way to try to save Carson’s life. He considered going along to the bar and trying to get Carson to share the real reason he’s on the island, but realized that Lee Berg has probably fed Carson a pile of bullshit about how he wants to keep the cops out of the matter for his supposedly mentally ill wife’s sake. In the end, Danny waits until the next morning when his husband is out in the ocean, before obtaining Carson’s number from Steve’s phone, then calling the man and posing as an employee of Mr Berg who suspects that Julia is fleeing domestic violence. He also warns Carson that Berg has hired Kent International to follow him and do whatever it takes to retrieve the baby.

A few hours later, Carson calls Steve and confesses that he might have gotten himself into a dangerous predicament. Consequently, Steve accompanies Carson to Lanai to find Julia and Branden, while the rest of the team follows via a separate method of transport so they can ambush the mercenaries from behind when they attack. Ultimately, the good guys all survive and Lee Berg is arrested the moment he arrives in Honolulu, thus ensuring the safety of his wife and child.

Since Harry has never experienced Thanksgiving and things are still going well between him and Rachel, Danny invites him to join the family on their trip to New Jersey. Harry hesitates, saying he doesn’t want to intrude, so Danny enlists his mother to call Harry and reassure him that there’s always room for one more at the Williams family table. Once they’re all gathered at his parents’ house, Danny is preoccupied at first with catching up with everyone, but as soon as he starts paying attention, it’s obvious that Rachel is overjoyed to see Harry fitting in so easily. Danny now suspects that the main reason she gave up on the idea of romance to begin with was that it was proving to be practically impossible to find a man willing to accept the closeness of her relationship with Danny and Steve. Since he was their friend first, that’s certainly not a problem with Harry.

The Night Sentinel case proceeds completely differently, since the despicable attorney Michael Pope chooses a different criminal to send after Gene Wahale. The guy turns out to be the most incompetent hit man ever, since his intended victim is able to get the upper hand and make a citizen’s arrest. The would-be killer rolls on Pope in the blink of an eye, so between that and what Gene knows, the truth of the conspiracy comes to light much faster. The whole thing is handled by HPD, but of course Five-0 are informed via the daily brief. Danny is relieved that things didn’t change in the other direction; if Pope had found a criminal who actually knew how to make a guy vanish without a trace, an untold number of wrongfully convicted people might never have been exonerated. It’s a little disappointing that Danny and Steve don’t get to be immortalized in a comic book, but it’s a small price to pay for a man’s life.

There’s no question that the new version of December 2018 is immeasurably superior to the original one; the entire Morocco team remains alive and therefore Steve does not go missing from Danny’s life. Instead, he’s right there by Danny’s side, touring colleges with Grace and continuing to be an amazing father to all three of their children and their two fur babies.

About a week before she is due to return to work, Cath informs Steve that she has decided to become a stay-at-home mom. She says she hadn’t realized how much she was missing out on with Libby and Judy until she was home with them and Rose all the time over the past few months. The cost of childcare for three young children is of course also a consideration, not to mention the fact that Cath is still hoping to add another baby at some point. Billy has agreed to make the attempt on the condition that four is the limit even if they have another girl. Needless to say, the whole team wishes Cath well and lets her know she’s welcome to come back at any time in the future. 

On Christmas Eve, Harry does not stay at the McGarrett-Williams residence, but shows up a couple of hours before noon on Christmas Day, which is quite a while after Charlie and Freddie woke the household, but a little earlier than the rest of their extended family is due to join them. Danny doesn’t know whether Harry was just concerned about the sleeping arrangements or if he doesn’t feel like it’s appropriate yet for him to be present for a part of the day that is usually reserved for parents and children only. Whatever the case may be, Danny thinks he might try to talk Steve into replacing the couch with a pull-out at some point before next Christmas, in the hope that Harry will still be around and more secure in his place in the family. It’s not like it wouldn’t also be useful if anyone else wants to visit, plus at the very least Rachel would be more comfortable, so they probably should have done it years ago.

In the afternoon, they’re joined by Aunt Deb, Joan, Mary, Justin, Eric, Joe and Linda. Danny glances around the room and can’t help but smile as he observes Harry and Rachel giving Freddie their full attention as he animatedly discusses one of his new toys, while Joe, Linda and Deb play a board game with Charlie, and Grace helps Joan work on some kind of Lego monstrosity. Amusingly, Eric is curled up on the floor with the dogs. Finally, Mary and Justin are cuddled up together on the opposite end of the couch from Danny and Steve. Mary looks like she might have fallen asleep. Danny doesn’t blame her; he loves his kids more than anything but their boundless energy is exhausting, particularly on festive occasions. Danny decides to follow Mary’s example and take advantage of the fact that his children are currently occupied by other loved ones; he shifts into a more satisfactory position against Steve so he can take a nap on him. His husband huffs in amusement when he realizes what Danny is up to, but then wraps his arms more firmly around him. Danny lets out a contented sigh as he allows himself to start drifting off while surrounded by Steve’s warmth and the delightful sounds of a happy family which is unexpectedly perfect and so much larger than he ever could have wished for.


	18. Chapter 18

Danny is elated when Harry and Rachel get engaged on New Years Day. Rachel puts her house up for sale the next day and starts the process of moving in with Harry. The move isn’t finished until a few days later, which is Saturday, so Danny and Steve are able to assist with the final check to ensure nothing has been left behind and to help the kids say goodbye to the house and get settled in their new home.

With Grace content to finish rearranging things in her new room by herself, and Charlie and Freddie merrily playing together in Charlie’s room, the adults end up alone in the living room relaxing over tea, or in Danny’s case coffee. Rachel cheerfully announces that she and Harry have decided not to waste any more time and have therefore set their wedding date for eight weeks time; the first Saturday in March. She also advises that they would like to try to add to their family as soon as possible, but her smile has dimmed and she and Harry both suddenly seem a little on edge.

A quick glance at Steve confirms that he also looks concerned now, so Danny isn’t just imagining things. “Is something wrong?” he asks worriedly.

Harry takes a deep breath before responding, “I’m unable to father a child… and we were hoping one of you would be willing to help.”

Danny is unable to prevent himself from frowning in confusion, although on reflection it has been almost two decades since Lady Sophie’s conception, and any number of things could have happened to Harry to cause a loss of fertility. It takes a few seconds for Danny’s mind to catch up with the second part of the sentence. His frown only deepens as he’s forced to consider the possibility that he might be a terrible person; despite being the immensely grateful recipient of such an amazing gift himself, he’s not sure he has the strength to give up a child of his own.

Apparently Steve has no such problem, abruptly interrupting Danny’s thoughts with a decisive, “I’ll do it.”

Rachel gives Steve a gentle smile. “Bless you Steve, I know your first instinct is always to help others without a thought for yourself, but please, take a few days to really think about this. It’s not a small thing we’re asking of you. Although, you should know, we’re prepared to offer an option where you wouldn’t have to give up your parental rights… it might be unconventional, but we actually quite fancy the idea of all four of us raising a baby together, with equal custody, just as the three of us did with Charlie.”

Steve appears to have been momentarily rendered speechless. Danny is right there with him as they meet each other’s wide-eyed gazes.

Eventually, Steve turns back to face their friends and says somewhat unsteadily, “You’re right, we need some time to discuss this and think it over.”

“Of course,” Harry calmly replies. “Take as much time as you need.”

Shortly after this mind-boggling conversation, Danny and Steve head home with Freddie. Between their youngest son and the dogs, they’re too busy to so much as mention the matter for several hours. But when Danny returns to the living room after putting Freddie to bed, he finds Steve staring intently at a picture of Charlie as a newborn.

“What are you thinking?” Danny asks as he sits beside his husband and takes his hand.

Steve sighs heavily. “I’m so confused. I was all set to help Rachel and Harry out, to be nothing but an uncle to the kid, but then when Rachel put the other option on the table, I was totally blindsided… and I didn’t expect to want it, but I do.”

“So you’ve reconsidered your position that our family is complete?”

“Yes, but I’m not sure that this is the right path to take. As much as I appreciate how incredibly lucky we are to have such a wonderful co-parenting arrangement with Rachel, it feels different and weird to be even thinking about creating a new life, knowing that we would only get to be with the kid for half of the time. Don’t you think it might be better for them to just have two parents and one home?”

Danny pauses for a short time to collect his thoughts. “I think that the kid would be fine either way. Whether they had two parents or four, they would never know any other life. Do you think Charlie is less happy and well adjusted than Freddie?”

“No, of course not.”

“Well then, there you go.” Danny squeezes Steve’s hand. “It comes down to what you want, babe.”

Steve laughs airily. “I think you get to have an opinion too, Danno.”

Danny smiles and can’t resist giving his husband a quick kiss. “Like I told you before, I’m willing to have another baby if you want one. And none of us are getting any younger, so there is a certain appeal in sharing the responsibility with Rachel and Harry. Also, I’d like to point out that if history is any indication, we’d all be seeing the kid more than half of the time. But if you think you would rather have another baby that’s just ours, we can try to find a way to make that happen. Whether you want to help Rachel and Harry out would then become a separate issue, and I would never presume to tell you what you can and cannot do with your DNA, but I don’t think you should underestimate the potential difficulty of being in regular contact with a child that might look a lot like you but who wouldn’t be ours. I honestly don’t know how Bridget was able to hand Freddie over to us.”

“Yeah,” Steve acknowledges with a wry smile. “I might have been a bit hasty on that one. But given how Rachel helped us out with Freddie when he was a baby, it would feel awfully selfish to say no to her now.”

“Maybe. But you know she did that for Grace and Charlie as much as for us. Besides, if she felt entitled to demand our help she would have jumped on it as soon as you said yes instead of insisting that we consider it carefully.”

Steve just nods his acknowledgement this time. They’re both silent for a few minutes before Steve speaks again. “Like Rachel said, maybe it’s unconventional, but I think I actually prefer this option to the thought of going though a complicated adoption process, or using a surrogate we don’t know.” He doesn’t say it, but they both know that due to her current circumstances in terms of her career and her precarious relationship with Ted, Bridget isn’t an option. Steve continues, “Are you really okay with the idea?”

“Yes,” Danny replies without hesitation. He can’t hold back a delighted grin. “Obviously there’s no guarantee this will work out, but if it does, do you realize how lucky this kid would be? Some people don’t even get one loving, devoted parent, let alone four.”

Steve beams in return before pulling Danny close for an unhurried, joyful kiss. It’s quite some time before Steve withdraws to suggest, “Maybe you should be the one to do it? We already know you and Rachel make beautiful kids.”

Danny’s soft smile as he thinks of Grace and Charlie is purely reflexive, but he shakes his head. “Nah. I already have two to your one. Plus, with you as the biological father, the new baby would be a half-sibling to all of our existing kids.”

Steve’s quiet smile and shining eyes very effectively convey how enamored he is with this notion. His voice is full of incredulous wonder as he asks, “Are we really doing this?”

“I think so, babe,” Danny replies happily. “But before we talk to Harry and Rachel, we should probably wait a few days to let the idea sink in and make sure we’re not going to change our minds.”

“Okay,” Steve agrees seriously, but then he’s grinning again as he leans in for another kiss.

Over the next four days, Danny spends a lot of time reminiscing about his three previous experiences of bonding with a newborn. Each one was unique and special and he can’t say that any particular instance was somehow better than either of the others, so he eventually concludes that he has no reservations about doing it again with another slightly different configuration of co-parents. He also discusses the issue with his parents, who are initially a little taken aback but ultimately supportive. Steve undertakes a similar period of reflection and consults Aunt Deb, whose reaction is much the same.

Once it becomes apparent that their enthusiasm for the proposal is not waning but is in fact steadily escalating, Danny and Steve meet with Rachel and Harry to inform them of the decision. Danny feels it prudent to ask if the other couple are absolutely certain they wouldn’t prefer to try to find someone else who would be willing to help without the need for them to share custody. Rachel confesses that as much as she loves being a mom, she’s quite content to proceed with a situation that will allow her to still enjoy the regular periods of child-free time that she has become accustomed to. Harry is also of the opinion that this option presents the best of both worlds; the chance to raise a child while maintaining an element of freedom that most parents don’t get. Danny can’t fully relate, since he greatly cherishes Freddie’s constant presence, but he is reassured nonetheless that they’re all perfectly satisfied with their arrangement. They agree to wait until after the wedding to put the plan into action.

In the meantime, it’s back to business as usual. Danny is thrilled to meet Grace’s new friend Katie when she comes over to hang out after school, a few days after they make it safely home on the night that originally ended with serious injuries for them both. Grace never mentions an encounter with a creep at Zippy’s, so Danny doesn’t know whether the incident didn’t happen at all or if Grace dealt with it in a more level-headed manner, but either way he’s just grateful that the girls are okay.

When Steve selects Billy, Junior and Tani to go down to the deep-sea lab to investigate the murder of Jason Kamaka, Danny casually suggests that they shouldn’t leave the sub unprotected at any time in case the murderer tries to take it, and that they should also keep a close eye on the oxygen levels in case of sabotage after their arrival. Thankfully, Billy heeds this excellent advice, so the situation is resolved without Steve having to carry out an insanely dangerous free-dive.

A few days later, Danny is interested to notice the names Thomas Magnum, Juliet Higgins and Theodore Calvin show up in the daily brief from HPD, in relation to an incident at the Taipei consulate and the capture of Ian Pryce, a rogue MI6 agent who turned out to be the assassin known as Viper. It’s likely that he read all of this before in the original timeline, but as the names wouldn’t have meant anything to him at the time, he promptly forgot about it. Danny decides to ask Harry whether he knows Higgins or Pryce. The answer is yes to both, but Harry was never close to either of them. He does however thank Danny for bringing the matter to his attention and comments that he might reach out to Higgins to see whether she’s in need of any ‘more civilized’ companionship. Danny is familiar enough with Harry’s sense of humor that he’s not offended by this apparent insult towards Americans.

Mercifully, Danny and Steve both have the day off when Annie Kehr comes to the team’s attention. Had they been in the office, there’s no telling what either of them might have said or done to the poor girl’s fanatically bigoted parents. Unsurprisingly, the other members of Five-0 are fully capable of deciding for themselves that Mr and Mrs Kehr are going nowhere without signing the emancipation papers. The team is also still successful in uncovering and preventing the coordinated attacks planned by the United Aryan Division.

When Hurricane Kim hits the island, Grace is still safely out of harm’s way on her class trip to LA. Harry and Rachel have custody of Charlie and their house is not in the evacuation zone, so they kindly take in Freddie and the dogs while Danny and Steve both go to work. However, it turns out to be a much less eventful day than the first time around, since the FBI don’t show up in search of a secure facility to house the boss of a drug cartel. Danny assumes that this is a result of the ongoing changes to the affairs of all of the cartels due to Gabriel still being alive and becoming an increasingly powerful figure.

A couple of weeks later, Junior is spared the distress of being forced to kill Layla’s boyfriend Tory Laeha, since it’s Chin rather than Tani who discovers Jenny Lee’s lie about having her head down throughout the bank robbery, which leads to a completely different chain of events; Tory is immediately arrested and offered a deal in exchange for giving up the rest of the crew.

On Harry and Rachel’s wedding day, Danny finds himself overjoyed by the sight of their radiant happiness while they say their vows to each other. The original 2019 version of himself would definitely never have been able to imagine he would be capable of feeling this way while watching Rachel marry another man. It’s extremely embarrassing now to think about how, in his desperation to pretend he wasn’t hopelessly in love with Steve, he had wasted a lot of time foolishly clinging to the crazy idea of getting back together with Rachel. He feels exceedingly fortunate that in this new reality he gets to cling to Steve’s hand instead while fighting back tears as he recalls their own glorious wedding day.

At the reception, Danny meets Juliet Higgins, who has become a good friend to her fellow Brits over the past month, and Thomas Magnum, who has somehow persuaded Higgins to bring him along, although they’re both quick to clarify to everyone they meet that they are not in a relationship. Speaking of which, Danny watches with fond amusement while Tani and Junior dance around each other both literally and figuratively. Due to the team being larger they haven’t been paired up together quite so often at work, but it doesn’t seem to have prevented them from forming a close friendship which unquestionably still has the potential to become something more.

When the festivities are over, Rachel and Harry depart for a one week honeymoon on Maui. Since her book signing is taking place at the end of the week, Amanda remains on the island. Danny and Steve have the kids but have no problem with allowing their grandmother to see them on a daily basis while she’s around. Danny never expected to have such a cordial relationship with his former mother-in-law, but he’s certainly not complaining, especially since his children are the ones who benefit from it the most. However, it’s still a relief when Amanda is accompanied to the book signing by her usual security officer.

Two weeks after Rachel and Harry return, the time arrives for their first attempt to make a baby. It’s a strange and slightly awkward but also very exciting endeavor. The outcome is negative, but at this early stage there’s no cause for concern and their disappointment is minimal.

Four weeks later, the second failure is a bit more difficult to take, but Danny does his best to reassure Steve that sometimes these things take time and there’s no reason to freak out just because it hasn’t happened as quickly as it did with Freddie.

Thankfully, the children they already have provide a wonderful distraction. Danny is just as astounded as he was last time to see Grace looking so grown up on prom night, but this time he gets to commiserate with an equally affected Steve.

Meanwhile, work is relatively routine even though Danny doesn’t recognize the majority of their cases.

Despite their own situation, Danny and Steve are both still delighted for Billy and Cath when they announce that their fourth child is due to arrive in November. Steve is however distinctly displeased by the news that Mary is also expecting a baby in December, given that it’s totally unplanned and she isn’t married or even engaged. Danny has to stop his husband from going after Justin with a shotgun, bluntly reminding the neanderthal that it’s the twenty-first century and plenty of people have kids without being married. A few days later they learn that Mary has rejected Justin’s marriage proposal. Steve is exasperated with his sister, but Danny is more sympathetic to her doubts about whether Justin truly loves her or is merely acting out of obligation or perhaps a justifiable fear of Steve.

Three weeks later, it’s obvious that Steve is crushed to hear that Rachel still hasn’t conceived on the third attempt. Danny is disappointed too but knows it’s still too early to be giving up hope. Patience has never been Steve’s strong suit but Danny is eventually able to help him understand that this isn’t some kind of competition and it’s unhelpful to stress themselves out by putting too much emphasis on the timescale.

Grace’s graduation gives them all something more positive to focus on. The video made by Rachel and shown at the huge party at Danny and Steve’s place is even more beautiful and moving than the previous one, featuring plenty of happy moments shared by all of Grace’s parents and her brothers, with Harry included in many of the more recent images.

Danny and Steve’s seventh anniversary falls on the weekend immediately after Grace’s graduation. Originally they were planning a simple staycation, but at the last minute Danny decides to whisk Steve away to their favorite place on Kauai, in order to chill out and try to forget all about babies, or lack thereof, for at least a short time. This plan is a great success; they arrive home refreshed and exhilarated after spending the weekend celebrating their endlessly deep and abiding love for each other. 

The rest of June passes by swiftly and peacefully, but at the start of the first week of July, Wes Cullen is arrested by Five-0 following a botched attempt on Billy Sato’s life. Since Daiyu Mei has been dead for years and Wo Fat’s entire organization collapsed, the man didn’t end up becoming a money launderer, so he’s not as rich and therefore went about hiring a hit man in a different and much less effective way. Since both the timing of the case and the identity of the hit man have changed, they do not encounter Quinn during the investigation. Danny doubts whether Steve would have hired her even if they had met, since the team is much larger than last time with Chin, Kono, Billy and Jerry all still on board. Danny can’t believe he’s only just realized that Jerry was never shot in this timeline.

Later in the week, having been invited by Magnum, who befriended pretty much everyone at Rachel and Harry’s wedding, the entire Five-0 ohana attends a barbecue at Robin’s Nest to celebrate the Fourth of July. It’s an enormous gathering and as Danny surveys the scene, he takes a moment to appreciate the wonderful improvements to his world; the ongoing presence of several people who previously met tragic ends, the happy marriages, and of course the precious children who never even existed before but now bring limitless joy to the lives of everyone around them.

Danny has a fantastic time throughout the event. The degree of admiration that Rick and TC have for Steve makes for excellent entertainment in the form of Steve’s smug satisfaction and Magnum’s disgruntlement. Danny is also highly amused to find Catherine thoroughly engrossed in listening to a conversation between Rachel, Harry and Higgins, as if their ridiculous slang is a code for her to crack. He suspects the Brits are intentionally exaggerating and throwing in phrases so outdated that they don’t usually use them. But they all seem to be enjoying themselves so he leaves them to it in favor of joining the group of kids currently energetically playing with each other and the Dobermans, as well as a few of the other adults.

Maybe it’s just random chance, or perhaps some cosmic reward for their renewed optimism, but in any case, Rachel calls the next day to triumphantly inform Danny and Steve that she’s finally pregnant. All four expectant parents are ecstatic and struggle to contain their euphoria in order to avoid giving the game away before reaching the point where it’s considered safe to share the news with everyone.

Weeks pass by with shocking speed until it’s suddenly time for Grace to depart for college. It’s incredibly difficult and there are tears all around as her parents and brothers see her off at the airport, but it’s also impossible not to be immensely proud of this amazing young woman they have raised.

When they get home, they briefly meet their new neighbors who are moving in next door. Danny drops by the following day on the way home while walking the dogs, using the excuse that he wants to introduce Riley and Eddie to the neighbors so they can see the dogs are friendly and therefore there’s no cause for alarm if they somehow find their way into the wrong yard. After ‘learning’ that one member of the couple is a botany professor, Danny informs her of Eddie’s history and requests that she avoid planting anything that is commonly found in Afghanistan. Luckily, she finds his preemptive concern for his fur baby to be sweet rather than peculiar.

During the first week of September, Rachel has her first sonogram and the room is a little crowded but none of them wanted to miss it. Steve’s level of excitement and awe is deeply touching and Danny belatedly realizes that his husband didn’t get the chance to be this involved in the pregnancy with any of their other kids. The thought that if Steve hadn’t changed his mind about adding to their family he would never have had this unparalleled experience momentarily upsets Danny, until he’s able to mollify himself with the fact that it is actually happening right now.

After this phenomenal appointment, it’s finally time to share the news with all of their friends. Everyone promptly congratulates them and if anybody thinks the exact circumstances are unorthodox, they politely refrain from commenting on the subject.

Steve’s state of elation seems to put things in perspective for him, so he finally apologizes to Mary for being less than supportive of her own situation and any negative impact his attitude might have had on her pregnancy experience. By this point, Justin has made it clear that he intends to stick around for the long haul regardless of their marital status, so Mary’s future looks bright.

The weeks continue to fly by and in what seems like the blink of an eye the last week of October arrives and it’s time once again for Harry, Steve and Danny to assemble around Rachel while she undergoes her second, more detailed scan. To Steve’s frustration, Rachel wants the baby’s sex to be a surprise, but the most important thing is that everything looks good.

Shortly after this, they have a discussion about names. No one objects to naming the baby after Harry’s parents, both of whom sadly passed away when he was at a relatively young age, so the first name will be either David or Josephine. Danny gets to choose the middle name and selects Joseph for a boy or Bridget for a girl. The agreed upon last name is McGarrett-Langford. Danny generally isn’t a huge fan of hyphenated names for children, since one half will inevitably have to get dropped at some point, either when the child marries or when it comes to naming the next generation, which is why Freddie’s last name is just McGarrett, but he can acknowledge the logic of it in this specific case.

On Halloween, it’s lovely to see Max and Sabrina again and to meet their adopted son Tunde. For once, it’s a quiet night so the entire team gets to attend Flippa’s party without getting called in to work. Danny vaguely recalls that this wasn’t the case last time but he can’t remember the precise details of what previously occurred.

Due to them all continuing to occasionally meet up over the past four months, Magnum and his friends have now become part of the Five-0 ohana, and when another large gathering occurs at Robin’s Nest on Veterans Day Weekend, Danny is surprised but pleased to be ‘introduced’ to Quinn, who has somehow ended up dating Rick. Fate truly is unfathomable but it looks like Quinn might be destined to be in their lives, albeit in a drastically different capacity. Danny is glad to see that she appears to be thriving, despite having remained in a much more boring job.

Five-0’s cases continue to be unfamiliar to Danny, but Lou’s niece Bonnie still comes to visit, shares her desire to become a cop, and moves in with Lou and Renee. Since the local Yakuza is still under the control of the Shiomas, Danny hopes that Endo Tanaka won’t be attending the academy this time, thus keeping Bonnie from ending up in mortal danger before she even graduates.

A week later, Cath finally gets the baby boy she wanted so much. She and Billy name their son Thomas, after Cath’s grandfather, although Magnum tries to take credit for making the name seem appealing.

During the same week as little Tommy’s arrival, it finally becomes possible for people other than Rachel to feel the baby kick. Danny is consistently enchanted by the look of wonder and tenderness on Steve’s face every time he gets the chance to connect with their unborn child this way, much earlier than was possible with Freddie. Danny has of course had the privilege before, but it doesn’t make the experience any less magical this time around.

When Thanksgiving arrives, the thing Danny is most thankful for this year is that Doris has stayed out of trouble, saving Steve from the unspeakable trauma of witnessing her death, or possibly the guilt of choosing not to go after her, as that could well have been his decision this time if it had been necessary to make one. After all, even Doris herself has told Steve that the welfare of his children should be his main priority. The presence of said children during the holiday comes a close second on the list of things to be grateful for.

Two weeks later, Mary gives birth to a healthy daughter, who is officially named Deborah but is generally referred to as Debbie to distinguish her from her doting great aunt. Steve and Danny also adore the new addition to the family and never say no when called upon to babysit.

Christmas is slightly different this year, since the venue has changed to the Langford residence. Danny is a little sad about breaking with tradition, but can’t deny that it makes sense for them all to stay at the larger house. He’s also not about to try to make a pregnant lady sleep anywhere other than her own bed. Once the festivities get underway, he quickly forgets about the change of location anyway; as long as he’s with his family during this special holiday, nothing else matters.

In January, Steve and Danny meet Milton Cooper, more than a year after it happened the first time around, but since the introduction originally occurred during the soft opening of the restaurant, this is one change with an obvious cause. It turns out that Milton made a New Year’s resolution to sort through everything he has in storage, so it’s at this point that he became inspired to hand over the first Steven McGarrett’s briefcase to his grandson. While Danny is pleased that Steve gets to gain this additional insight into his grandfather’s life, they’re now far too busy to dedicate any of their personal time to working on Chang Apana’s last unsolved case. Steve brings all the evidence into the office instead and as soon as they get a quiet day, the team has fun solving the mystery together.

Junior still gets called up for reserve duty, but there are no other events that Danny recognizes while he’s gone. Things have changed enough that Tani and Junior’s first date has not yet occurred, but apparently absence really does make the heart grow fonder, since Tani makes her move as soon as Junior returns. So despite all of the alterations to their lives, there has only been a minor delay in them getting their act together, which is a great relief to Danny.

Two weeks later, for the first time in a long time Danny actually recognizes a case, but he really wishes it didn’t have to be the rancher getting killed after finding the bag of buried gold on his property. There’s no reasonable way to point the investigation towards the Makoi family sooner, so the case proceeds much the same way as before. When the time comes to decide who is going to ride the trail, he and Steve now have an entirely different argument, since Steve is well aware of the improvement in Danny’s level of skill but is reluctant to assign both of them to the most risky task. However, since Billy has the day off and Chin and Kono also have no desire to ride, Steve doesn’t have much choice, as there’s clearly zero chance of Danny letting him go alone.

There’s significantly less talking while they ride; they’re both far more focused on their safety than they ever were before. Unbeknownst to Steve, Danny is also secretly carrying more ammunition than usual. He’d prefer to have even more, but there is a limit to how much can be concealed on your person without your teammates noticing. Luckily, in the heat of the moment, Steve doesn’t even think to question why Danny has the extra magazines, and it makes enough of a difference to prevent the need for hand-to-hand combat and the subsequent nasty head injury that Steve sustained last time. The journey back down the mountain is also far more enjoyable, romantic even, as they literally ride into the sunset together.

Four days later, on Steve’s birthday, Rachel goes into labor a week early. Naturally, when their beautiful baby girl eventually makes her appearance, Rachel is the first to hold her, gazing down with teary eyes as she murmurs, “Hi Josie.”

It’s quite some time before Rachel feels ready to let someone else have a turn, but despite her exhaustion she manages to summon up a grin as she announces, “Happy birthday, Steve,” while handing their tiny daughter over.

Danny is so overwhelmed by the sight of the infinite love and instant devotion openly displayed on Steve’s face that he starts to feel lightheaded. These early moments are always incredibly amazing, but he thinks that the fact that he spent a long time believing they weren’t ever going to do this again is making the experience even more powerful. He crowds closer to his husband and rests his head against him under the guise of getting a closer look at the baby, which he wanted to do anyway, but the truth is that Steve is now the only thing keeping Danny vertical.

Although Danny was already planning on letting Harry hold Josie next, it definitely needs to be that way now, as Danny feels so unsteady that he’s not certain he wouldn’t drop her. While Steve would undoubtedly catch the baby, Danny knows it would be better if he didn’t have to. Although the majority of Danny’s attention is focused on cuddling his husband while trying to get his rampant emotions under control, he does still take note of Harry’s overawed reaction to holding their daughter, which is also heartwarming.

When Josie finally ends up in Danny’s arms, Steve swiftly embraces them both, just as he did when Freddie was born, so apparently Danny didn’t need to worry about dropping their newborn after all, but at least he’s now a bit more composed and in a better state to truly savor the moment. He makes no effort to conceal his tears. No one here is going to judge him and even without checking he’s confident there isn’t a dry eye between all four new parents.

The best part about Josie’s early arrival is that Grace is home for spring break, so she gets to meet her newborn sister in person rather than by video call. Obviously she’s thrilled but she also playfully berates her parents for taking more than six years to give her the sibling she wanted. Charlie and Freddie are fascinated by their tiny sister, but are somewhat dismayed by how long it will be before she can play with them. While their interest in interacting with Josie ebbs and flows, they do both occasionally enjoy holding the baby (under close supervision) and helping to care for her as much as they’re able.

Danny and Steve are on leave for the first two weeks of Josie’s life. For the sake of ease and to maximize the time they can spend with all of the kids, the entire family, including Riley and Eddie, temporarily resides at the Langford home. Grace is back at college during the second week but Danny and Steve stay put in order to conserve time and energy by not having to travel between houses and to maintain a more desirable ratio of adults to children while they’re all adjusting to having a newborn in their lives.

During the third week, Danny and Steve return to their own home and get back to work. Technically they have custody of Josie and Charlie, but they drop Josie off with Rachel and Harry each morning and later in the day Harry picks up Charlie and Freddie from school, so Danny and Steve can collect all three children at once whenever they’re done with work. The following week the reciprocal side of their flexible custody arrangement means that they’re welcome to visit for an hour or two after work to spend time with Josie and Charlie before heading home with Freddie. Just like when Charlie was an infant, it’s a system that works out well for everyone.

Towards the end of the fourth week, Danny realizes that this is the date on which he died last time. Having made it through most of the day without serious incident, he goes to sleep expecting to wake up from a nightmare at some point, so he’s relieved that Josie is not present. To his immense surprise, what actually happens is that he suddenly wakes from a peaceful sleep to find Steve breathing hard and reaching out with a shaking hand to touch Danny in the exact place he was shot. He’s extremely disturbed by this strange and unprecedented blip in the space-time continuum.

Having established that Danny is unhurt, Steve’s next move is to take hold of his husband’s left hand and rub his thumb across Danny’s wedding band, as if he needs the reassurance that it’s really there. Even in the midst of silently freaking out, Danny is impressed by Steve’s attention to detail while suffering from a distressing vision of another reality.

Steve sighs in obvious relief and settles down, holding Danny close and pressing their foreheads together before murmuring, “Sorry I woke you.”

“Bad dream?” Danny asks as casually as he can.

“Yeah,” Steve confirms with a violent shudder. He doesn’t immediately elaborate and they’re both quiet for a while before Steve lets out a dry chuckle and says, “Dreams are so weird… you were shot… slowly dying in my arms… and I was so scared, but I also remember feeling an overwhelming sense of regret, because we weren’t together and the thought that I might never get the chance to tell you how much I love you was more terrifying than anything.”

It’s Danny’s turn to shudder as he considers that if a higher power hadn’t intervened, that’s exactly what Steve would have gone through. “That sounds utterly horrific, babe,” he remarks with absolute sincerity. “But fortunately I’m fine and I’m well aware of how much you love me, which is maybe half as much as I love you.”

“That’s total slander,” Steve says, but he’s smiling now, which was what Danny was aiming for when making that facetious statement.

Danny feels tears welling up in his eyes as he mentally compares his vibrant, healthy husband with the burned out and broken version of Steve who told Danny that he needed to leave the island shortly before Danny carelessly let himself get captured and fatally wounded.

Steve is starting to look concerned, so Danny offers him a watery smile to make it clear that these are happy tears. “Every time I think I can’t possibly love you more, my heart always finds a way,” he explains earnestly, giving Steve no time to reply before following it up with a slow, gentle kiss.

It quickly becomes apparent that Steve has decided to forego a verbal response. Naturally, Danny is more than willing to cooperate with his husband’s plan to move on to expressing their love for each other by engaging in the most life-affirming act known to humankind. They take an unhurried, meticulous approach and the results are deliciously spectacular. Afterwards, Danny promptly falls into a state of blissful oblivion.

Steve is still asleep when Danny wakes again at a more normal hour. He figures that his husband has definitely earned the rest and therefore chooses to leave him be. As he fixes his adoring gaze on Steve’s tranquil face, Danny takes a moment to contemplate the future. For the first time in almost nine years, he hasn’t got even the faintest clue what might happen from this point on. Miraculously, he’s not worried about it. The days where Danny’s mind would always jump straight to the worst case scenario are thankfully long gone.

Instead, he pictures a long and happy life, keeping each other safe at work until they’re ready to retire, while continuing to raise their beautiful children, with the help and support of their magnificently large ohana. He imagines sitting beside his wonderful, perfect husband on their beach, several decades from now, holding hands and watching the sunset while their grandchildren play nearby. Danny smiles contentedly and snuggles slightly closer to Steve. Despite the fact that his unnatural advantage has now officially come to an end, he’s determined to do everything in his power to make this compelling daydream a reality. Whatever comes next, with Steve by his side, it’s no doubt going to be an amazing adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, the season 10 timeline is completely impossible! It starts out badly, with 10x01 being set just 2 weeks after 9x25, which definitely takes place in May 2019, but there's no obvious place in which to imagine a large gap between any of the episodes before Halloween occurs during 10x05... then during 10x07 it's the Day of the Dead (Nov 2) and Steve has supposedly been in Mexico for the past 8 weeks... even though he was present for Halloween. It's truly terrible writing XD
> 
> But anyway, if you've made it this far, thanks very much for reading! When I started writing this story I didn't really know where I was going with it, and I didn't expect to end up basically rewriting the entire show, so it's been a bit of a wild ride but I've enjoyed it immensely. I hope you've enjoyed it too and I truly appreciate every comment and kudos x


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